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.

A common way of getting a good idea when to plant melampodium is to examine the USDA zone info for Ceres.

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 tells us 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 Ceres is March. However, you really should wait until April 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. Starting your melampodium indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Ceres. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ceres may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ceres it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your melampodium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ceres

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Ceres

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