Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when to plant lithospermum is to examine the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Lithospermum

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

You should not plant lithospermum until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant lithospermum 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 lithospermum and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your lithospermum may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your lithospermum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Madison the average date of last frost happens on April 15. 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. Since half of the time in Madison you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lithospermum in the event of a 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.