Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Winterville can be looked at to determine when to plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

It's not a good idea to plant melons until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Winterville 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. Any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Winterville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Winterville is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Winterville it frosts late in the year after March 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 Winterville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Winterville

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