One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant melampodium is to look at the USDA zone info for Beatrice.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's a bad idea to plant melampodium until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Beatrice 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. Any later than that and your melampodium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Beatrice. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Beatrice is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Beatrice it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your melampodium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Beatrice

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Beatrice

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