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

In Jackson you can estimate when it's possible to plant gaillardia by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 well in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Jackson 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

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Jackson. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Jackson is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Jackson you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your gaillardia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jackson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Jackson

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