The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Lombard you can estimate when you can plant gladiolus by checking out 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.

You can plant gladiolus slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Lombard 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. Any later than that and your gladiolus may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your gladiolus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Lombard. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Lombard is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lombard there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lombard

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 Lombard

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