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.

You can figure out when to plant melons in Alliance 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.

You should not plant melons until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Alliance 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. If you wait any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 is on April 15 in Alliance. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alliance is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Alliance it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your melons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alliance

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Alliance

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