One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant melampodium is to examine the USDA zone info for Edgewater.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

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

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Edgewater 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 fully mature. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Edgewater and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Edgewater you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your melampodium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Edgewater

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 Edgewater

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