One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The best time to plant dianthus in Madison can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

Dianthus do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus 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 dianthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your dianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your dianthus 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.