One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 chance to plant gladiolus in Lake in the Hills can be determined by using 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 very little cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Lake in the Hills 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gladiolus indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Lake in the Hills is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lake in the Hills it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your gladiolus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake in the Hills

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 Lake in the Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake in the Hills.