One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By using the USDA zone info for College Station you should be able to figure out when you can plant melampodium.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Melampodium are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in College Station 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in College Station. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for College Station is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in College Station you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for College Station

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in College Station

You may be interested in your other planting guides for College Station.