One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant lavender by looking at the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Lavender

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

Since lavender are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The last month that you can plant lavender and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your lavender may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lavender indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Madison. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lavender in the event of 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.