One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant melampodium in Peoria 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.

Melampodium do not do well in cold weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Peoria 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 Peoria. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Peoria and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Peoria you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Peoria

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 Peoria

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