The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant iresene in Melbourne should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Iresene

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

Since iresene are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant iresene 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 iresene and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your iresene may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your iresene indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Melbourne is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Melbourne you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your iresene 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.