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.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant gladiolus is to examine the USDA zone info for Beaver Dam.

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 tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Beaver Dam 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. 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 Beaver Dam. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Beaver Dam is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Beaver Dam last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your gladiolus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Beaver Dam

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 Beaver Dam

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Beaver Dam.