The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant melons in Hays should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Melons do not do well in cold weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Hays 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 grow to maturity. Starting your melons indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Hays. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hays may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Hays it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your melons in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hays

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Hays

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