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 best time to plant melampodium in Lake Stevens can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Melampodium are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Lake Stevens 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lake Stevens the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Stevens is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Stevens it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to cover your melampodium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Stevens

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 Lake Stevens

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Stevens.