Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Bell you can estimate when it's possible 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Melampodium do not do well in cold weather which means that it's important 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 Bell is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melampodium and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your melampodium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Bell. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bell and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Bell it frosts late in the year after January 31 so always be ready to cover your melampodium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Bell

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