One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A common way of estimating when it's possible to plant melampodium is to use the USDA zone info for Stewartville.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant melampodium until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Stewartville is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melampodium and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your melampodium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Stewartville. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Stewartville is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Stewartville it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Stewartville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Stewartville

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Stewartville.