The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Valley you can figure out when it's the best time to plant melons by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melons

Frost tolerance for melons:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant melons until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Valley 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Valley. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Valley is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Valley last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your melons if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Valley

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 Valley

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