Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Cicero it's possible to estimate when you can plant gladiolus.

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 other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Cicero 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. If you wait any later than that and your gladiolus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gladiolus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Cicero the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cicero is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cicero last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cicero

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Cicero

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