One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Hartsville you can figure out when you can plant melampodium by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's not a good idea to plant melampodium until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Hartsville 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Hartsville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Hartsville may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Hartsville you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your melampodium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hartsville

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 Hartsville

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