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

By checking out the USDA zone info for Madison you should be able to estimate when you can plant leeks.

Planting Calendar for Leeks

Frost tolerance for leeks:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Leeks are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant leeks 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 leeks and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your leeks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your leeks indoors.

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 can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Madison it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your leeks 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.