The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant borage in Madison by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Borage

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

Borage are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant borage 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 borage and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your borage may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your borage indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Madison. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madison and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your borage in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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