One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Gainesville you will be able to determine when you can plant melampodium.

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 it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Gainesville 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Gainesville. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gainesville is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Gainesville there is a last frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your melampodium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gainesville

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 Gainesville

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