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

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Stockbridge it's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant melampodium.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

You can not plant melampodium until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Stockbridge 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melampodium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Stockbridge is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Stockbridge there is a last frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Stockbridge

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 Stockbridge

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