One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Geneva can be read to estimate when it's possible to plant melampodium.

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 when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Geneva 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. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Geneva the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Geneva and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Geneva you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your melampodium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Geneva

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