One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant melampodium is to check out the USDA zone info for Augusta.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

Frost tolerance for melampodium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Melampodium do not do well in cold weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Augusta is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melampodium and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait 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

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Augusta. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Augusta and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Augusta it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Augusta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Augusta

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