One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant melampodium is to refer to the USDA zone info for Tuckahoe.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Melampodium require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Tuckahoe 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Tuckahoe. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Tuckahoe is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Tuckahoe there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your melampodium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tuckahoe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Tuckahoe

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