When to Plant Gerbera in Harrisburg, PA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

The first chance to plant gerbera in Harrisburg can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Gerbera

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

Gerbera do well in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gerbera
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gerbera
Probably not a good time to plant gerbera

The earliest that you can plant gerbera in Harrisburg 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 gerbera and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your gerbera may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your gerbera indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Harrisburg. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Harrisburg and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Harrisburg you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your gerbera if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harrisburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Harrisburg

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