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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant gaillardia is to use the USDA zone info for Carolina Beach.

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 can survive in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Carolina Beach 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. If you wait any later than that and your gaillardia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gaillardia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Carolina Beach. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Carolina Beach is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Carolina Beach there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your gaillardia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carolina Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Carolina Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Carolina Beach.