One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Philadelphia should be used to figure out when it's the best time to plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

Frost tolerance for melons:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since melons do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Philadelphia 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 really do well. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Philadelphia. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Philadelphia is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Philadelphia last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your melons if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Philadelphia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Philadelphia

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