One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 way of figuring out when to plant melampodium is to refer to the USDA zone info for Midland.

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 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 Midland 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Midland. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Midland may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Midland last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your melampodium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Midland

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 Midland

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