One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

The first opportunity to plant tithonia in Madison should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tithonia

Frost tolerance for tithonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant tithonia until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Madison. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your tithonia if you have one of those late frosts.

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.