One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 estimating when it's a good idea to plant peanut is to use the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Peanut

Frost tolerance for peanut:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant peanut until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant peanut 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 peanut and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your peanut may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your peanut indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Madison. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madison and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Madison there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your peanut 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.