One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 USDA zone info for Kankakee can be looked at to determine when to 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 do well in very little cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Kankakee 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

In Kankakee the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Kankakee is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Kankakee it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your gladiolus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Kankakee

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 Kankakee

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