The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant dill by reviewing the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Dill

Frost tolerance for dill:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since dill do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Madison. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madison and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your dill if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Madison

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Madison

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