One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The best time to plant poppies in Madison can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Poppies

Frost tolerance for poppies:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant poppies a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant poppies in Madison is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your poppies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Madison. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Madison is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Madison you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your poppies in the event of a surprise 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.