Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when to plant cleome is to examine the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

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

You should not plant cleome until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cleome may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your cleome indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Madison. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your cleome if you have a late frost.

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.