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 common way of getting a good idea when to plant cantaloupes is to use the USDA zone info for Scappoose.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Since cantaloupes require warm weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Scappoose 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Scappoose. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Scappoose may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Scappoose last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cantaloupes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Scappoose

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 Scappoose

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