One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant watermelon is to consult the USDA zone info for Boonville.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

You should not plant watermelon until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Boonville 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 watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watermelon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Boonville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Boonville and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Boonville there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your watermelon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Boonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Boonville

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