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 USDA zone info for Gilmer can be looked at to determine when to plant garden mums.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

Frost tolerance for garden mums:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Garden Mums are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Gilmer 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 garden mums and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your garden mums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your garden mums indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Gilmer is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Gilmer last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your garden mums in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gilmer

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 Gilmer

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