One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant melons is to use the USDA zone info for Fort Morgan.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Melons are not cold tolerant which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Fort Morgan 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. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Fort Morgan the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Morgan is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fort Morgan you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your melons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Morgan

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Morgan

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Morgan.