When to Plant Napa Valley Fern in Madison, WI

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

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Madison you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant napa valley fern.


Planting Calendar for Napa Valley Fern

Frost tolerance for napa valley fern: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant napa valley fern until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant napa valley fern
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant napa valley fern
Probably not a good time to plant napa valley fern

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

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Madison is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Madison you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your napa valley fern 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.