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.

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant melons is to refer to the USDA zone info for Junction City.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Melons do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Junction City 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 grow to maturity. Starting your melons indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Junction City the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Junction City is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Junction City there is a last frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your melons in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Junction City

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 Junction City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Junction City.