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.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant gladiolus by using the USDA zone info for Bloomington.

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 a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Bloomington 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gladiolus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bloomington. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Bloomington may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bloomington you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bloomington

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 Bloomington

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