One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant melons is to examine the USDA zone info for Gadsden.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Since melons do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Gadsden 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 melons and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Gadsden. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gadsden is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Gadsden last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your melons if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Gadsden

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Gadsden

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