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.

The USDA zone info for Forney can be read to estimate when you can plant melampodium.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Since melampodium are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Forney 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. Any later than that and your melampodium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your melampodium indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Forney is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Forney it frosts late in the year 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 Forney

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 Forney

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