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.

In Madison you can figure out when to plant peonies by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Peonies

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

You can plant peonies just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant peonies 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 peonies and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your peonies may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your peonies indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Madison is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Madison there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your peonies 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.