Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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.

In Aiken you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant melampodium 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.

You should not plant melampodium until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Aiken 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Aiken the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Aiken and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Aiken it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your melampodium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Aiken

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Aiken

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