One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 you can plant gaillardia is to check out the USDA zone info for Albany.

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 a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Albany 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gaillardia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your gaillardia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Albany. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Albany is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Albany you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your gaillardia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Albany

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 Albany

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