Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant gaillardia in Utica by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gaillardia

Frost tolerance for gaillardia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Gaillardia tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Utica is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gaillardia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your gaillardia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your gaillardia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Utica. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Utica is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Utica last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your gaillardia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Utica

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Utica

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Utica.