One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Madison you can estimate when it's possible to plant nasturtium by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Nasturtium

Frost tolerance for nasturtium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Nasturtium do not do well in cold weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant nasturtium 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 nasturtium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your nasturtium may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your nasturtium indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madison and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Madison you get a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your nasturtium in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.