One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant melampodium in Altus can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Since melampodium are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Altus 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 Altus. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Altus is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Altus there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your melampodium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Altus

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Altus

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