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.

In Colorado Springs you can determine when you can plant gladiolus by reviewing 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 can survive in mild cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Colorado Springs 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 really do well. Starting your gladiolus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Colorado Springs. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Colorado Springs is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Colorado Springs last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your gladiolus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Colorado Springs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Colorado Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Colorado Springs.