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.

In Melbourne you can figure out when you can plant copperleaf by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Copperleaf

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

Since copperleaf do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant copperleaf in Melbourne 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 copperleaf and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your copperleaf may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your copperleaf indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Melbourne. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Melbourne is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Melbourne last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to cover your copperleaf in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Melbourne

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 Melbourne

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