One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 possible to plant melons is to check out the USDA zone info for Iowa City.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

It's a bad idea to plant melons until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Iowa City 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 really do well. Starting your melons indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Iowa City. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Iowa City is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Iowa City there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your melons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Iowa City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iowa City.