One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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 common way of determining when it's possible to plant dallas fern is to examine the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Dallas Fern

Frost tolerance for dallas fern:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since dallas fern require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dallas fern in Madison is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dallas fern and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dallas fern may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your dallas fern indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Madison the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Madison there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your dallas fern in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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