One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

It's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant melampodium by checking out the USDA zone info for Palatka.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Since melampodium are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Palatka 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. If you wait any later than that and your melampodium may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Palatka. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Palatka is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Palatka last frost occurs after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your melampodium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Palatka

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 Palatka

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