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.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant melons is to look at the USDA zone info for Arkadelphia.

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 should not plant melons until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Arkadelphia 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

In Arkadelphia the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Arkadelphia is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Arkadelphia you get a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your melons in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Arkadelphia

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 Arkadelphia

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