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

The USDA zone info for Madison should be looked at to determine when you can plant endive.

Planting Calendar for Endive

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

You can plant endive a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant endive 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 endive and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your endive may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your endive indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Madison you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your endive in the event of a late frost.

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.