One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Roanoke you can estimate when it's the best time to plant melampodium by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Melampodium are not cold tolerant which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Roanoke 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. Any later than that and your melampodium may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Roanoke the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Roanoke and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Roanoke last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your melampodium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Roanoke

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Roanoke

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