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

A common way of estimating when to plant lovage is to refer to the USDA zone info for Madison.

Planting Calendar for Lovage

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

Since lovage are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lovage 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 lovage and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your lovage may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lovage indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Madison and it is different every year. Half of the time in Madison you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your lovage 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.