The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Maquoketa should be looked at to estimate when to plant melampodium.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's not a good idea to 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 Maquoketa 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 fully mature. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Maquoketa. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Maquoketa is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Maquoketa there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your melampodium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Maquoketa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Maquoketa

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