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.

In Madison you can estimate when it's possible to plant bachelor buttons by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bachelor Buttons

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

Since bachelor buttons are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bachelor buttons 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 bachelor buttons and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your bachelor buttons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bachelor buttons indoors.

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.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your bachelor buttons if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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