One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The first opportunity to plant melampodium in Rio Vista can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Melampodium require warm weather which tells us that you need 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 Rio Vista 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. If you wait any later than that and your melampodium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Rio Vista. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rio Vista and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rio Vista it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your melampodium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rio Vista

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 Rio Vista

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rio Vista.