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.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant watermelon is to use the USDA zone info for Jefferson.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

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 Jefferson 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 really do well. Starting your watermelon indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Jefferson the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Jefferson is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Jefferson last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your watermelon in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jefferson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Jefferson

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