One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 best time to plant watermelon in Billings should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

You should not plant watermelon until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Billings is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. Any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Billings. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Billings is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Billings there is a last frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Billings

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Billings

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