One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Madison it's possible to determine when it's possible to plant perilla.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

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

It's not a good idea to plant perilla 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 perilla 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your perilla 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 Madison. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Madison there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your perilla if you have 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.