Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Madison you can figure out when to plant canna by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Canna

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

It's not a good idea to plant canna until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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

The last month that you can plant canna and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your canna may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your canna indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

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.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madison and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Madison last frost occurs after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your canna in the event of 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.