One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Fairfax you can estimate when you can plant melampodium by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

You really shouldn't plant melampodium until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Fairfax 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Fairfax. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fairfax is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Fairfax last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your melampodium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairfax

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 Fairfax

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