One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to estimate when it's a good idea to plant geranium by checking out the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Geranium

Frost tolerance for geranium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant geranium until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant geranium 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 geranium and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your geranium may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your geranium indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Madison. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Madison is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Madison last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your geranium in the event of a late frost.

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.