Best Melons to Grow in Missouri
Missouri sits in USDA Hardiness Zone 6. These 38 melon varieties are suited to Missouri's 180-day growing season with last frost around April 15 and first frost around October 15.
Varieties
38
for Missouri
USDA Zone
6
180-day season
Beginner
10
easy to grow
Heirloom
21
heritage varieties
Missouri in USDA Zone 6
Missouri is primarily in Zone 6. Varieties that thrive in this zone will typically grow well across the state, though local microclimates vary.
When to Plant Melons in Missouri
Growing Melons in Missouri
Zone 6 presents both opportunities and challenges for melon growers. With approximately 180 frost-free days between mid-April and mid-October, you have enough time to grow most melon varieties successfully—but timing becomes crucial. The key is choosing varieties that can handle cooler nights in early summer and finish before fall temperatures drop. Look for melons with maturity dates of 75-85 days for watermelons and 70-80 days for cantaloupes and specialty melons.
The varieties listed here have proven themselves in Zone 6 conditions. They're selected for their ability to set fruit reliably in variable spring weather, tolerate the occasional cool snap, and ripen fully before your first frost. Some, like Minnesota Midget and Blacktail Mountain, were specifically bred for northern climates, while others like Sugar Baby and Hale's Best have earned their reputation through decades of reliable performance in shorter-season areas.
Variety Comparison
Variety Details
Ali Baba Watermelon
An remarkable Iraqi heirloom watermelon that produces enormous fruits weighing up to 100 pounds with incredibly sweet, crisp flesh that stays fresh for weeks after harvest. Ali Baba features distinctive pale green skin with dark stripes and develops exceptional sweetness while maintaining excellent texture even in its massive size. This conversation-starting variety is perfect for gardeners who want to grow something truly spectacular and have the space for its vigorous vines.
Ambrosia Cantaloupe
A premium hybrid cantaloupe that lives up to its heavenly name with exceptionally sweet, aromatic flesh and reliable production. Known for its thick, salmon-orange flesh and high sugar content, this variety consistently produces perfectly round melons with excellent shelf life. Ambrosia combines the best traits of heirloom flavor with modern hybrid vigor and disease resistance.
Banana Melon
An unusual heirloom melon that looks exactly like a giant banana with its elongated yellow shape and smooth skin. This conversation-starting variety produces sweet, salmon-pink flesh with a delicate flavor reminiscent of both cantaloupe and honeydew. The novelty appearance combined with excellent taste makes it a hit at farmers markets and a unique addition to any home garden.
Blacktail Mountain Watermelon
Developed in Idaho for short-season growing, this remarkable heirloom produces full-sized, incredibly sweet watermelons in just 75 days even in cool climates. The round, dark green fruits with subtle stripes contain bright red flesh that rivals any long-season variety for flavor and sweetness. Perfect for northern gardeners who thought they couldn't grow watermelons.
Boule d'Or Charentais
An authentic French Charentais melon that represents the pinnacle of melon flavor with its incredibly aromatic, orange flesh that's intensely sweet and perfumed. Boule d'Or produces small, personal-sized fruits with smooth, pale skin that turns golden when ripe, each one delivering the authentic taste of French summer markets. This heirloom variety requires patience but rewards gardeners with unparalleled flavor that commercial melons simply cannot match.
Burpee Ambrosia Hybrid Cantaloupe
An All-America Selections winner renowned for its exceptional sweetness and disease resistance, making it perfect for home gardeners seeking reliable production. The thick, salmon-orange flesh maintains its quality longer than most varieties, while the heavy netting and consistent size make it as beautiful as it is delicious. This hybrid combines old-fashioned flavor with modern reliability.
Burpee Hybrid Cantaloupe
A reliable and productive hybrid cantaloupe that consistently delivers sweet, aromatic melons even in challenging growing conditions. This variety was specifically bred for home gardeners, offering excellent disease resistance and uniform fruit production. The thick, sweet orange flesh and classic netted rind make it a standout choice for beginners and experienced growers alike.
Cantaloup Charentais
The original French cantaloupe that inspired countless imitations, prized for its incredibly aromatic orange flesh and perfect balance of sweetness and musky flavor. These small, perfectly portioned melons develop deep suture lines when ripe and fill the garden with their intoxicating fragrance. A true gourmet experience that puts grocery store cantaloupes to shame.
Cantaloupe Athena
A premium hybrid cantaloupe that delivers exceptional disease resistance and consistent, sweet flavor that rivals the best heirlooms. Athena produces perfectly netted, medium-sized fruits with deep orange flesh that's incredibly aromatic and sweet. This reliable variety has become a favorite among home gardeners who want guaranteed success without sacrificing taste.
Cantaloupe Burpee Hybrid
A reliable hybrid cantaloupe that delivers consistent, sweet melons with classic orange flesh and excellent disease resistance. This variety produces medium-sized fruits with exceptional flavor and aroma, making it a favorite among home gardeners who want dependable results. The vigorous vines are productive and handle various growing conditions better than many heirloom varieties.
Cantaloupe Hales Best
A time-tested heirloom cantaloupe that has been the benchmark for home garden success since 1924. Developed in California's Imperial Valley, this variety combines excellent disease tolerance with outstanding flavor and reliable production. The thick, sweet, salmon-colored flesh and perfect netting make it the cantaloupe that many gardeners grow year after year.
Cantaloupe Iroquois
An outstanding hybrid cantaloupe developed for superior disease resistance and exceptional flavor in shorter growing seasons. This variety produces medium-sized melons with incredibly sweet, thick orange flesh that rivals the best market varieties. Iroquois is particularly valued by northern gardeners for its reliability and consistent production even in cooler summers.
Cantaloupe Minnesota Midget
A compact cantaloupe perfect for northern gardens and small spaces, developed at the University of Minnesota. This early-maturing variety produces sweet, orange-fleshed fruits on short vines that can even be grown in containers. Despite its small size, the flavor rivals full-sized cantaloupes with excellent sweetness and aroma.
Casaba Golden Beauty
An heirloom winter melon with bright yellow, wrinkled rind and sweet, creamy white flesh that stores exceptionally well. This unique variety ripens late in the season and actually improves in flavor during storage, making it perfect for extending the melon season into fall and winter. The distinctive appearance and honey-sweet flavor make it a conversation starter in any garden.
Charentais Cantaloupe
The smooth yellow melons avg. 5-5 1/2" X 4 1/2-5 1/2" and about 4 lb. Flesh is very sweet and juicy. Harvest when fruit turns dark yellow, at forced-slip stage, or cut from vine.
Charleston Gray Watermelon
A classic heirloom watermelon that has been delighting gardeners since the 1950s with its distinctive gray-green skin and exceptional disease resistance. Charleston Gray produces large, oblong fruits with sweet, crisp red flesh that's perfect for summer gatherings and has excellent keeping quality. This vigorous variety consistently delivers reliable harvests even in challenging growing conditions.
Collective Farm Woman Melon
A treasured Ukrainian heirloom honeydew-type melon with an unforgettable name and exceptional flavor that has won over gardeners worldwide. This reliable variety produces smooth, cream-colored melons with incredibly sweet, white flesh that stores well into winter. Originally grown on Soviet collective farms, it's perfectly adapted to shorter seasons and variable weather conditions.
Crenshaw Melon
An heirloom treasure that's considered the 'Cadillac of melons' for its incredibly sweet, spicy-floral flavor and smooth, creamy texture. This large, teardrop-shaped melon starts green and ripens to golden-yellow with pink-orange flesh that's almost perfumed in its intensity. Crenshaw melons are prized by gourmet cooks and melon enthusiasts for their unparalleled eating quality.
Crimson Sweet Watermelon
Dark and light yellow-green striped, 10" x 12" blocky oval fruits weigh in at 15-25 lb. Crisp, sweet pink flesh and vigorous vines. Avg. 1-2 fruits/plant.
Delicious 51 Cantaloupe
A proven heirloom cantaloupe variety that has been delighting gardeners since the 1950s with its exceptional flavor and reliable production. This open-pollinated variety produces medium-sized melons with intensely sweet, aromatic flesh that embodies everything a perfect cantaloupe should be. Delicious 51 is particularly prized by seed savers and those who want to experience authentic, old-fashioned cantaloupe taste.
Early Dew Honeydew
A breakthrough early-season honeydew that brings the classic sweet, mild flavor of honeydew to gardens with shorter growing seasons. This hybrid variety matures significantly faster than traditional honeydews while maintaining the signature smooth texture and refreshing taste. Early Dew is perfect for northern gardeners who previously couldn't reliably grow honeydew melons.
Galia Melon
An Israeli-bred hybrid melon that combines the best traits of cantaloupe and honeydew, featuring aromatic pale green flesh with tropical flavor notes. This netted melon has become increasingly popular with home gardeners for its exceptional sweetness, long storage life, and distinctive spicy-sweet aroma. The cream-colored flesh is incredibly juicy and melts in your mouth.
Hale's Best Cantaloupe
A time-tested heirloom cantaloupe that has been America's favorite since the 1920s, prized for its exceptional sweetness and aromatic fragrance. The heavily netted fruits develop deep orange flesh that practically melts in your mouth with perfect melon flavor. This reliable variety thrives in hot climates and consistently produces premium-quality melons that rival anything from the grocery store.
Hearts of Gold Cantaloupe
A treasured heirloom variety from the 1890s that earned its name from the heart-shaped cavity filled with golden-orange flesh of exceptional quality. This compact variety is perfect for smaller gardens and shorter seasons, producing consistently sweet melons with that old-fashioned cantaloupe flavor gardeners remember from childhood. Its reliability and disease resistance have kept it popular for over a century.
Honey Rock Cantaloupe
An exceptional heirloom cantaloupe from 1933 that earned All-America Selections honors for its outstanding sweetness and reliability. This variety produces perfectly round, heavily netted fruits with thick, orange flesh that's incredibly sweet and aromatic. Honey Rock is treasured by gardeners for its consistent production, excellent storage quality, and flavor that intensifies as the fruit ripens.
Honeydew Melon
The classic smooth-skinned melon beloved for its pale green, incredibly sweet flesh and refreshing flavor that defines summer. This popular variety produces large, oval fruits with creamy white rinds that develop a slight yellow tinge when perfectly ripe. Honeydew's mild, clean sweetness and crisp texture make it a favorite for fresh eating and a staple in grocery stores worldwide.
Jade Dew Honeydew
An exceptional honeydew variety that produces consistently sweet, pale green flesh with an incredibly smooth, creamy texture that melts in your mouth. Unlike many honeydews that can be bland, Jade Dew develops remarkable sweetness and a subtle floral aroma when properly ripened. This compact variety is perfect for smaller gardens while still producing full-sized, delicious fruits.
Jenny Lind Melon
A charming 1840s heirloom cantaloupe named after the famous Swedish opera singer, featuring distinctive turban-shaped fruits with a pronounced button end. This early-maturing variety produces small, intensely flavored melons with pale orange flesh and fine netting that were once sold by street vendors in Philadelphia. The compact size and exceptional flavor make it perfect for small gardens and fresh eating.
Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe
A compact cantaloupe variety developed by the University of Minnesota for short growing seasons and small spaces. This prolific heirloom produces sweet, orange-fleshed melons weighing just 1-2 pounds each on compact vines perfect for northern gardens. Despite its small size, it delivers full cantaloupe flavor and is ready to harvest in just 70 days.
Moon and Stars Watermelon
A spectacular heirloom watermelon famous for its mystical dark green rind decorated with yellow 'stars' and larger yellow 'moons' that make each fruit a work of art. Nearly lost to extinction until the 1980s, this Cherokee heirloom produces large, sweet melons with pink-red flesh and the same celestial markings on its foliage. Moon and Stars is as much a conversation piece as it is a delicious watermelon, perfect for gardeners who love growing living history.
Orange Flesh Honeydew
A unique twist on the classic honeydew melon featuring vibrant orange flesh instead of the traditional green. This variety combines the smooth, creamy texture honeydew lovers expect with a slightly more complex, sweeter flavor profile. The striking orange interior makes it a conversation starter at farmers markets and dinner tables alike.
Orange Honeydew Melon
A stunning variation of the classic honeydew that combines the smooth, sweet texture you love with gorgeous salmon-orange flesh that's rich in beta-carotene. This variety offers the best of both worlds - the mild, refreshing honeydew flavor with the nutritional benefits and visual appeal of orange-fleshed melons. The smooth, cream-colored rind makes it easy to identify when ripe.
Sprite Melon
A compact, early-maturing melon perfect for northern gardens and small spaces, producing cream-colored fruits about the size of a softball. This Japanese variety offers incredibly sweet, crisp flesh with a unique texture that's almost like a cross between a melon and an Asian pear. The small vines and quick maturity make it ideal for gardeners with short seasons or limited space.
Sugar Baby Watermelon
Round fruits, 6-8" in diameter, averaging 8-10 lb. Ripe melons are almost black. Good flavor. Tough rinds resist cracking. The standard of "icebox" melons for many years. Avg. 1-2 fruits/plant.
Tiger Baby Watermelon
A delightful personal-sized watermelon perfect for small gardens and container growing, featuring distinctive dark green stripes over a lighter green background. This compact variety produces sweet, crisp red flesh in perfectly portioned individual melons that are ideal for picnics and small families. Tiger Baby combines space-saving growth habits with traditional watermelon flavor in an adorable, manageable package.
Watermelon Charleston Gray
A legendary heirloom watermelon from 1954 that produces massive, elongated fruits perfect for feeding crowds at summer gatherings. This variety is prized for its exceptional disease resistance, long storage life, and sweet red flesh that stays crisp even in hot weather. Charleston Gray's distinctive gray-green color and reliable 25+ pound fruits make it a favorite for serious watermelon growers.
Watermelon Crimson Sweet
The gold standard watermelon that has dominated home gardens for decades with its perfect balance of reliability and flavor. This variety produces large, round fruits with distinctive light and dark green stripes and incredibly sweet, deep red flesh. Crimson Sweet is beloved for its consistent performance, disease resistance, and classic watermelon taste that defines summer.
Watermelon Picnic
A classic large watermelon variety that produces the traditional big, round melons perfect for family gatherings and summer picnics. These impressive fruits can reach 15-20 pounds with deep red, sweet flesh and the classic striped green rind that everyone recognizes. The vigorous vines are productive and reliable, delivering that perfect summer watermelon experience.
Zone 6 Growing Tips for Missouri
Start your melon seeds indoors 3-4 weeks before your last frost date—that's typically late March to early April in Zone 6. Transplant seedlings outdoors 2-3 weeks after your average last frost when soil temperatures consistently reach 65°F, usually early to mid-May. Don't rush this step; cold soil will stunt growth and delay harvest more than starting a week later with warm conditions.
Season extension is your friend in Zone 6. Use black plastic mulch or landscape fabric to warm soil faster in spring, and consider row covers for the first few weeks after transplanting. Plant in the warmest, most protected spot in your garden—ideally a south-facing location with wind protection. If you're pushing the season with longer-maturing varieties like Crenshaw or Honeydew, be prepared to cover plants if unexpected late spring frosts threaten, and consider using season extenders like low tunnels in early fall.