One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can determine when it's possible to plant zucchini in Madison by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Zucchini

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

You can not plant zucchini until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

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. If you wait any later than that and your zucchini may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your zucchini indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Madison the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year 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 there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your zucchini 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.