The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Olympia Fields should be used to estimate when you can 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.

Since melampodium do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Olympia Fields 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. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Olympia Fields. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Olympia Fields is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Olympia Fields it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your melampodium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Olympia Fields

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 Olympia Fields

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Olympia Fields.