One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Albemarle can be reviewed to estimate when it's possible to plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Since melons are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Albemarle 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 Albemarle. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Albemarle and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Albemarle it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your melons in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Albemarle

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Albemarle

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