One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

It's possible to estimate when it's a good idea to plant bellis by using the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Bellis

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

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

The earliest that you can plant bellis 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 bellis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bellis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your bellis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Madison. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate 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 last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your bellis in the event of 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.