One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 figure out when it's a good idea to plant lobelia by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Lobelia do well in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Madison is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lobelia in the event of 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.