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.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant melampodium is to examine the USDA zone info for Holyoke.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant melampodium until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Holyoke 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 fully mature. Starting your melampodium indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Holyoke the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Holyoke may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Holyoke you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your melampodium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Holyoke

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 Holyoke

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