One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when you can plant melampodium by looking at the USDA zone info for Huntsville.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

Frost tolerance for melampodium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Melampodium do not do well in cold weather which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Huntsville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Huntsville is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Huntsville there is a last frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your melampodium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Huntsville

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 Huntsville

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