Spring’s warming soils mean it’s time to plant a variety of heat-loving crops, including many types of melons, from watermelons to cantaloupes to honeydews. Homegrown melons harvested at peak ripeness are so much more flavorful than those that travel to the grocery store. Some are delicacies with tender skins or flesh that are not well-suited to commercial shipping, but in our own gardens, we enjoy them fresh off the vine.

Melons take a relatively long time to develop, soaking up the long, sunny summer days and seasonal moisture. Seeds do best with direct sowing as soon as the soil is warm enough (60°F/16°C or warmer). In cool climates with short growing seasons, start melons indoors two to four weeks before you plan to transplant.

Melons are frost-sensitive annual crops with optimal growing temperatures between 70-85°F (21-29°C). Direct sow seeds after the final frost and when soil and air temperatures warm to the sixties (around 16°C). Direct sowing is an advantage as it reduces transplant disturbance to sensitive roots. But, to get a jumpstart on the lengthy growing season, start seeds indoors in biodegradable pots or soil blocks.

Watermelon ‘Crimson Sweet’

Ripeness shows when the belly patch turns creamy white.

‘Crimson Sweet’s’ name says it all: this classic watermelon has a deliciously sweet flavor with crisp, pinky-red flesh. The popular watermelon variety produces blocky 20 to 25-pound fruits. Dark and light green stripes line the skins, with rich red interiors at peak ripeness.

‘Crimson Sweet’ is ready in 85 days. The vigorous vines are disease-resistant to common fungal problems like Fusarium wilt and anthracnose.

‘Crimson Sweet’s’ weighty, rounded fruits grow 12 inches long and 10 inches in diameter. Look for the ground patch (where the melon rests on the soil) to turn creamy white when ripe.

Honeydew ‘Sweet Delight’

Late-season sweetness holds well into cooler months.

Honeydews are a type of “winter melon,” or those ready late in the season for storing and enjoying in fall and winter. They often reach optimal size and flavor in late summer and early fall. Unlike cantaloupes, honeydews have smooth, green skins without netting. They’re also less aromatic on the vine and don’t separate from the stem when ripe. With firm skins, they often have a longer storage life.

‘Sweet Delight’ is a honeydew melon variety that’s especially sweet and juicy. The pale green flesh matches the light-skinned exterior. It is ready for harvest in about 90 days. The relatively compact vines produce seven-inch and seven to eight-pound fruits.

Cantaloupe/Muskmelon ‘Hearts of Gold’

This is a classic choice for short seasons and quick rewards.

The melons we call “cantaloupes” are usually muskmelons, with true cantaloupes as smooth, green fruits of European origin. Whatever we name them, their candy-sweet flavor is easily recognizable. Netted skins, aromatic stem ends, and salmon-pink flesh are unmistakable.

‘Hearts of Gold’ is a favorite 1800s heirloom muskmelon with deep orange flesh and a tangy sweetness. Each aromatic globe reaches six inches around and weighs two to three pounds. The pretty skins have dense netting and thin rinds that make for easy eating. 

‘Hearts of Gold’ has productive vines with robust growth that make it a good selection for cool climates with short growing seasons (and anywhere else).

Watermelon ‘Sugar Baby’

Round fruits ripen early with firm, dark-green skin.

Sow ‘Sugar Baby’ seeds now, and they’ll soon be icebox-ready. This classically sweet, juicy watermelon is a smaller, more compact variety. It matures earlier than larger melon varieties, with smaller rounds on a compact form. At six to ten pounds, the melons have firm, mottled black-green skin..

‘Sugar Baby’ is an improved dwarf variety with rich red flesh. Woodside Seed Growing Company of Rocky Ford, Colorado, introduced it in their 1958 seed catalog. Amateur breeder Mr. Hardin of Oklahoma selected it from an heirloom Japanese variety, ‘Tough Sweets.’

Harvest the delicious ‘Sugar Baby’ in about 80 days. Warm climates may be able to get in two rounds of sowing for a mid- and late-season yield.

Casaba ‘Bidwell’

Ribbed golden fruits ripen late with glowing orange flesh.

Casaba melons have centuries of history around the Mediterranean coast. With a long growth period, these winter melons are ready in September and October and boast a long storage life. The large melons have smooth, firm, green to gold skins with ribs. The flesh is orange-peach.

Casaba ‘Bidwell’ dates to the late 1800s. The variety bears the name of Civil War soldier and U.S. senator John Bidwell, who grew the melons in Chico, California. The size of watermelons, ‘Bidwell’ produces 16-pound fruits with a sweet, melt-in-your-mouth quality. They mature in about 95 days.

Like all melons, harvesting casaba at peak ripeness makes all the difference. When ripe, they’ll show brown, drying tendrils at the stem connection. The outer skin begins to dull. The interior flesh should look like a cantaloupe in creamy orange rather than pale green (underripe).

Watermelon ‘Mountain Sweet Yellow’

Juicy yellow flesh brightens any summer table.

This showpiece of a flavorful melon variety brings largesse and vibrant color to beautify summer picnics and fruit trays. ‘Sweet Mountain Yellow’ yields 20 to 35-pound fruits with dark and light green-striped rinds and rich yellow flesh. Not only is the color novel, but the flesh is deliciously sweet and juicy. The high sugar content and firm texture make the harvest wait worth it (95 to 100 days to maturity).

‘Sweet Mountain Yellow’ is a relative of the 1840s favorite ‘Mountain Sweet’ in red, popular for its good growth in northern climates. ‘Yellow’ reaches full size in growing areas with long, hot summers.

Cantaloupe ‘Charentais’

The creamy orange flesh makes these fruits irresistible.

‘Charentais’ is a French heirloom melon variety and a true cantaloupe. The 1920s beauty has smooth, green skins that ripen to light yellow. Skins are thin and tender, making the fruit vulnerable to damage during commercial shipping. Luckily for us, we can enjoy the delicacy by growing our own to enjoy at optimal freshness.

‘Charentais’ produces grapefruit-sized melons that weigh one-and-a-half to two pounds. The aromatic rounds have mellow orange flesh that tastes like dessert but is healthy enough for breakfast. Sweet and creamy, the personal-sized fruits serve one or two and are ready in 90 days.

‘Juane Canary’

Tropical sweetness in a golden rind is ready in 90 days.

Canary melons are heirlooms prized for their succulent flesh, sweet and tangy tropical notes, and an aroma to match. Similar to honeydews, the interior is pale green and white. The waxy outer rind matures to deep gold.

‘Juane Canary’ has oblong fruits that weigh in at four to five pounds. Like other winter Cucumis, they mature in about 80 to 110 days. Canaries hold up well under the summer sun. Save seeds from this open-pollinated melon variety to sow in subsequent years.

Cantaloupe/Muskmelon ‘Hale’s Best Jumbo’

They’re juicy with vibrant green and gold netted skins.

An all-time favorite melon variety is ‘Hale’s Best Jumbo’ with its tasty muskmelons that grow across various climates with uniform sweetness. Six-inch rounds weigh three to five pounds with thick skins and juicy, orange-pink flesh.