One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 way of determining when you can plant melampodium is to consult the USDA zone info for Du Quoin.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant melampodium until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Du Quoin 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. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Du Quoin. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Du Quoin is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Du Quoin you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Du Quoin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Du Quoin

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Du Quoin.