Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Louisville can be looked at to determine when it's possible 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 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 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your gladiolus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Louisville. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Louisville may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Louisville you get a frost after March 15 so always be ready to protect your gladiolus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Louisville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Louisville

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