Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant melons is to consult the USDA zone info for West Plains.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

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

The earliest that you can plant melons in West Plains 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for West Plains is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in West Plains you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your melons in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Plains

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 West Plains

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Plains.