When to Plant Gladiolus in Palmer, AK

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Palmer you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant gladiolus.


Planting Calendar for Gladiolus

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

Gladiolus do well in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gladiolus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gladiolus
Probably not a good time to plant gladiolus

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Palmer is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gladiolus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your gladiolus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gladiolus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Palmer. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Palmer and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Palmer you get a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Palmer

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Palmer

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