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

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant melampodium is to check out the USDA zone info for Orland.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant melampodium until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Orland 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 grow to maturity. Starting your melampodium indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Orland the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Orland is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Orland last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Orland

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