One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Chester you will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant melampodium.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Since melampodium require warm weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Chester 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chester. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chester may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Chester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chester

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 Chester

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