Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when to plant gladiolus is to refer to the USDA zone info for Oak Ridge.

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 a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Oak Ridge 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. If you wait any later than that and 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

In Oak Ridge the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Oak Ridge is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Oak Ridge you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your gladiolus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Ridge

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 Oak Ridge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Ridge.