Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant melampodium in Gallup should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Gallup. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gallup may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Gallup last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gallup

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Gallup

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