One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Keene it's a good idea to determine 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 must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Keene 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 grow to maturity. 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 April 15 in Keene. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Keene is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Keene you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your melons if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Keene

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Keene

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