One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 common way of estimating when you can plant melampodium is to consult the USDA zone info for Topeka.

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 all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Topeka 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. If you wait 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Topeka. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Topeka may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Topeka there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your melampodium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Topeka

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 Topeka

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