One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The first chance to plant melons in Richmond 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 when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant melons until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Richmond 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Richmond. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Richmond may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your melons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

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 Richmond

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