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

The first chance to plant melampodium in Morro Bay can be figured out by looking at 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 require warm weather which tells us that it's important 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 Morro Bay 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melampodium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your melampodium indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Morro Bay. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Morro Bay is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Morro Bay last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Morro Bay

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 Morro Bay

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Morro Bay.