When to Plant Melons in Shorewood, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Shorewood should be reffered to in order to determine when you can plant melons.


Planting Calendar for Melons

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant melons until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant melons
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant melons
Probably not a good time to plant melons

The earliest that you can plant melons in Shorewood 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Shorewood. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Shorewood is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Shorewood last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your melons in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shorewood

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 Shorewood

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Shorewood.