Louisiana’s frost dates are almost beside the point for melons. With a last spring freeze landing between January 18 and February 8, and the first fall…

Louisiana’s long, muggy growing season rewards melons chosen for heat and disease tolerance over sheer size or sweetness claims on a seed packet.

Melons go in the ground in Kentucky once the soil has warmed past the last frost risk, which for the state’s reference station falls between March 24 and…

Kentucky’s frost-free season runs long enough, and its summers hot enough, that cantaloupe and full-size watermelon are the safest bets for home gardens…

Kansas gardeners get one real window: sow melon seeds or set out transplants after the last spring frost risk passes, roughly mid-to-late April at the…

Kansas gardeners get one real advantage with melons: a long, hot frost-free stretch that favors cantaloupe and most watermelon types over slow-finishing…

Melon planting in Iowa hinges on the soil warming past 65°F, which typically lines up with the state’s last spring frost window of April 12 to April 24.

Short-season melons win in Iowa. Cantaloupe and compact watermelon varieties that ripen in 70 to 85 days fit the state’s frost-to-frost window with room…

Melons in Indiana go into the ground once the soil itself, not just the calendar, has caught up with spring.

Indiana’s growing season runs long enough for most melon types, but the summer isn’t scorching by national standards.