The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Balch Springs you can determine when it's the best time to plant melampodium 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 has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant melampodium until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Balch Springs 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. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Balch Springs the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Balch Springs may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Balch Springs last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your melampodium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Balch Springs

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 Balch Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Balch Springs.