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

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant gerbera is to look at the USDA zone info for Zone 9a.

Planting Calendar for Gerbera

Frost tolerance for gerbera:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Gerbera can survive in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gerbera in Zone 9a 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 gerbera and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gerbera may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gerbera indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Zone 9a. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 9a and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 9a there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your gerbera in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9a

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 Zone 9a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9a.