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

By using the USDA zone info for Forest Park you will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Melons are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Forest Park 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Forest Park may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Forest Park last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your melons if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Forest Park

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 Forest Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Forest Park.