One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant melampodium is to check out the USDA zone info for Tomah.

Planting Calendar for Melampodium

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

Since melampodium are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melampodium in Tomah is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 really do well. If you are starting your melampodium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Tomah. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Tomah is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Tomah you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your melampodium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tomah

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Tomah

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