One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant melampodium is to refer to the USDA zone info for Crockett.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant melampodium until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Crockett 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Crockett. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Crockett is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Crockett you get a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your melampodium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Crockett

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 Crockett

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