One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant gladiolus in Hoffman Estates should 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.

Gladiolus do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Hoffman Estates 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 fully mature. If you are starting your gladiolus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hoffman Estates. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hoffman Estates and it is different every year. Half of the time in Hoffman Estates you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hoffman Estates

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 Hoffman Estates

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hoffman Estates.