One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant mustard is to refer to the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

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

Since mustard do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mustard 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 mustard and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your mustard may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your mustard indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madison and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your mustard 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.