One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In Madison you can estimate when you can plant cerastium by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cerastium

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

Cerastium can survive in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cerastium 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 cerastium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cerastium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cerastium indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Madison may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your cerastium 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.