Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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.

In Port Arthur you can estimate when to plant melampodium by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

It's not a good idea to plant melampodium until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Port Arthur 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 little bit earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Port Arthur. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Port Arthur may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Port Arthur it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your melampodium if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Port Arthur

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 Port Arthur

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Port Arthur.