Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden 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 Franklin should be reviewed to determine when it's possible to plant melampodium.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

You should not plant melampodium until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Franklin 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 grow to maturity. 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

In Franklin the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°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 Franklin and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Franklin you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Franklin

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