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

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant melampodium is to use the USDA zone info for Sonoma.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Melampodium require warm weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Sonoma 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Sonoma the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Sonoma is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Sonoma last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your melampodium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sonoma

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 Sonoma

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