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.

The USDA zone info for Hanover Park can be read to estimate when you can plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

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

The earliest that you can plant melons in Hanover 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melons may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hanover Park. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Hanover Park is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Hanover Park you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your melons if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hanover Park

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 Hanover Park

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