One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 Opelousas you can determine when to plant melampodium by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

Frost tolerance for melampodium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

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

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Opelousas is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melampodium and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your melampodium may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your melampodium indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Opelousas. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Opelousas is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Opelousas there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your melampodium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Opelousas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Opelousas

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