One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

You can estimate when it's the best time to plant gladiolus in El Centro by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in El Centro 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gladiolus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your gladiolus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in El Centro. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for El Centro may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in El Centro last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your gladiolus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Centro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in El Centro

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Centro.