Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant melons is to use the USDA zone info for Dunbar.

Planting Calendar for Melons

Frost tolerance for melons:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since melons are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Dunbar 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. If you wait any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your melons indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Dunbar. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dunbar and it is different every year. Half of the time in Dunbar you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your melons in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dunbar

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

Plants to Grow in Dunbar

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