Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Houston can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's the best time to plant melampodium.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

You can not plant melampodium until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Houston is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melampodium and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your melampodium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Houston. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Houston may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Houston you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your melampodium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Houston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Houston

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