Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant melampodium in Oak Creek can be figured out 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Since melampodium do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Oak Creek 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your melampodium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Oak Creek. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Oak Creek and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Oak Creek last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Creek

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Oak Creek

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Creek.