The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 Florence should be read to figure out 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.

Since melons do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Florence is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melons and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and 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 February 15 in Florence. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Florence is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Florence you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your melons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Florence

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Florence

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