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 Louisville should be determined 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.

Gladiolus can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Louisville 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. If you are starting your gladiolus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Louisville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Louisville may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Louisville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Louisville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Louisville

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