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.

In Sumter 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.

Gladiolus do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Sumter 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your gladiolus indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Sumter is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sumter last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your gladiolus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sumter

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 Sumter

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