When to Plant Zucchini in Madison, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's possible to plant zucchini by reviewing the USDA zone info for Madison.


Planting Calendar for Zucchini

Frost tolerance for zucchini: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant zucchini until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant zucchini
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant zucchini
Probably not a good time to plant zucchini

The earliest that you can plant zucchini 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 zucchini and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your zucchini may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your zucchini indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Madison may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Madison you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your zucchini 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 Low0°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.