Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when you can plant gaillardia is to examine the USDA zone info for Smyrna.

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 do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Smyrna 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 fully mature. Starting your gaillardia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Smyrna. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Smyrna may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Smyrna last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your gaillardia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smyrna

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Smyrna

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