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.

A way of making a decision about when you can plant melampodium is to examine the USDA zone info for North Branch.

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 are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in North Branch is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in North Branch. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for North Branch and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in North Branch there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your melampodium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for North Branch

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in North Branch

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Branch.