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.

One way of figuring out when you can plant gladiolus is to use the USDA zone info for Douglas.

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 are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Douglas 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. Any later than that and your gladiolus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gladiolus indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Douglas is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Douglas last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Douglas

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 Douglas

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