One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant gerbera is to look at the USDA zone info for Sumter.

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.

Since gerbera are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Sumter the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Sumter is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sumter it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your gerbera in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sumter

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 Sumter

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