One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Glen Ellyn you can estimate when to plant melampodium by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's not a good idea to plant melampodium until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Glen Ellyn 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 really do well. Starting your melampodium indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Glen Ellyn. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Glen Ellyn and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Glen Ellyn last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your melampodium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Glen Ellyn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Glen Ellyn

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Glen Ellyn.