The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Abilene should be reviewed to determine when it's possible to plant gaillardia.

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.

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

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Abilene 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 grow to maturity. Starting your gaillardia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Abilene. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Abilene and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Abilene you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your gaillardia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Abilene

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 Abilene

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