One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

The first opportunity to plant melampodium in Florence should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Since melampodium are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Florence 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 when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Florence. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Florence is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Florence there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your melampodium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Florence

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 Florence

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