One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Madison it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant bellis.

Planting Calendar for Bellis

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

You can plant bellis a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bellis in Madison is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bellis and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bellis may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bellis indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Madison. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Madison is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Madison you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your bellis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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