One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant gladiolus is to look at the USDA zone info for Rathdrum.

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 means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Rathdrum 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Rathdrum. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rathdrum is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rathdrum there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rathdrum

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Rathdrum

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