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

You can figure out when it's possible to plant gaillardia in Zone 12a by reviewing 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 are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gaillardia in Zone 12a 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 gaillardia and expect a good harvest is probably November. If you wait any later than that and your gaillardia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gaillardia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 12a it never frosts. It might get as low as 50°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 12a is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since it never frosts in Zone 12a you do not have to be ready to cover your gaillardia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 12a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 12a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	50°F
Highest Expected Low	55°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 55°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 12a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 12a.