One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant melons is to use the USDA zone info for Fountain Hills.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant melons until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Fountain Hills is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melons and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your melons indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Fountain Hills. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Fountain Hills is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fountain Hills you get a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your melons if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fountain Hills

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Fountain Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fountain Hills.