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

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant gayfeather is to refer to the USDA zone info for Desoto.

Planting Calendar for Gayfeather

Frost tolerance for gayfeather:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since gayfeather are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gayfeather in Desoto is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gayfeather and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your gayfeather may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your gayfeather indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Desoto. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Desoto is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Desoto you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your gayfeather in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Desoto

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 Desoto

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