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

By referring to the USDA zone info for Chadron you should be able to estimate when it's the best time 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 moderate cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Chadron 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gladiolus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Chadron. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Chadron and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Chadron you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your gladiolus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chadron

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Chadron

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