One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Mountain View it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant melampodium.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

Frost tolerance for melampodium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since melampodium are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Mountain View. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mountain View is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Mountain View last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to cover your melampodium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mountain View

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Mountain View

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mountain View.