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 Hempstead can be looked at to figure out when you can plant gayfeather.

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 quite a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The last month that you can plant gayfeather and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gayfeather may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your gayfeather indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Hempstead. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hempstead is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Hempstead you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your gayfeather if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hempstead

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Hempstead

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