One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 making a decision about when it's possible to plant gladiolus is to look at the USDA zone info for Beckley.

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 tend to make it in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Beckley 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. Any later than that and your gladiolus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your gladiolus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Beckley the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Beckley is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Beckley there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your gladiolus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Beckley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Beckley

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