The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 you can plant melons is to look at the USDA zone info for Ocean Shores.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant melons until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Ocean Shores is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melons and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 February 15 in Ocean Shores. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ocean Shores is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ocean Shores last frost occurs after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your melons in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ocean Shores

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Ocean Shores

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ocean Shores.