The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant gladiolus is to check out the USDA zone info for Alabaster.

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.

Since gladiolus do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Alabaster 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 gladiolus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gladiolus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your gladiolus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Alabaster the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Alabaster is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Alabaster you get a frost after March 15 so always be ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alabaster

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 Alabaster

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