Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant perilla is to look at the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Perilla do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant perilla 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your perilla indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Madison is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Madison there is a last frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your perilla if you have a surprise 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.