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

The first chance to plant geranium in Madison can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Geranium

Frost tolerance for geranium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Geranium require warm weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Madison the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Madison it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your geranium if you have one of those late frosts.

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.