Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 estimating when to plant melampodium is to look at the USDA zone info for Jamestown.

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 because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Jamestown 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melampodium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Jamestown. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Jamestown may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Jamestown there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your melampodium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Jamestown

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 Jamestown

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