One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 possible to plant nierembergia by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Nierembergia

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

Since nierembergia do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant nierembergia 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 nierembergia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your nierembergia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your nierembergia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Madison the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Madison last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your nierembergia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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