Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Madison should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant begonias.

Planting Calendar for Begonias

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

Begonias are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant begonias 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 begonias and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your begonias indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Madison the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Madison you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your begonias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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