Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Bedford you can determine when to plant watermelon by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

You can not plant watermelon until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Bedford 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 watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watermelon may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your watermelon 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 March 15 in Bedford. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bedford and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bedford you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your watermelon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bedford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Bedford

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