When to Plant Gladiolus in Orange City, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant gladiolus in Orange City can be figured out 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.

You can plant gladiolus slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gladiolus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gladiolus
Probably not a good time to plant gladiolus

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Orange City 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 grow to maturity. 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 Orange City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Orange City is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Orange City it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your gladiolus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Orange City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Orange City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Orange City.