One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 best time to plant geranium in Melbourne can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Geranium

Frost tolerance for geranium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Geranium are not cold tolerant which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant geranium 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 geranium and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your geranium may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your geranium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Melbourne. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Melbourne is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Melbourne last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your geranium if you have one of those late frosts.

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.