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.

In Ocala you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant gladiolus by checking out 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Ocala 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your gladiolus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Ocala. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ocala may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ocala there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ocala

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 Ocala

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