When to Plant Gladiolus in Berkley, MI

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant gladiolus by using the USDA zone info for Berkley.


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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gladiolus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gladiolus
Probably not a good time to plant gladiolus

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Berkley 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 grow to maturity. Starting your gladiolus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Berkley. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Berkley may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Berkley you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your gladiolus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Berkley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Berkley

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