One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

A way of estimating when you can plant cantaloupes is to consult the USDA zone info for Hillsboro.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

You can not plant cantaloupes until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Hillsboro 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 cantaloupes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cantaloupes may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your cantaloupes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Hillsboro. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hillsboro is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Hillsboro it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cantaloupes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hillsboro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Hillsboro

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