One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant gladiolus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Barstow.

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 a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Barstow 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 gladiolus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your gladiolus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your gladiolus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Barstow the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Barstow and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Barstow you get a frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your gladiolus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Barstow

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 Barstow

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