One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 Wilmette can be reviewed 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.

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

The earliest that you can plant melons in Wilmette 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 fully mature. Starting your melons indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Wilmette is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Wilmette last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your melons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmette

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 Wilmette

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