One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant cantaloupes is to use the USDA zone info for Iowa Park.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

You really shouldn't plant cantaloupes until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Iowa Park 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 fully mature. 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

In Iowa Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Iowa Park is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Iowa Park there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cantaloupes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Iowa Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iowa Park.