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.

The first opportunity to plant gayfeather in Zone 8a should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Gayfeather

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

Gayfeather do ok in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gayfeather in Zone 8a 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. If you wait any later than that and your gayfeather may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gayfeather indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Zone 8a. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 8a and it is different every year. Half of the time in Zone 8a you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your gayfeather if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 8a

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 Zone 8a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 8a.