Same as you, when I tried growing melons, I didn't have any luck.. I haven't had a chance to try growing them again but I have since read up on how to some people grow them. My soil is mostly clay also and low in nutrients.. I've read that people have sucess growing them on mounds consisting of a rich mix of manure and garden soil... The soil temps need to be above 70 degrees... Start them first in cups with drain holes or those little multipack containers. You can get the kids to help. This gives the plants a head start from bug predation. Plant them on the mounds when the secondary leaves are about 1/2". Water only the roots and avoid the leaves... Don't let the soil dry out. Keep it moist but not waterlogged. The plant will grow both male and female flowers.. Once you notice that a fruit has been fertilized and is growing large, put something underneath to separate the melon from the soil.. Some people use straw. Thick paper plates will work, as I use on squash... You can also cover the fruits with a cage or mesh to protect them from any large animals around that can eat the melons. The variety that I tried to grow was the yellow fleshed "Moon and Stars" that I got from Baker Creek. I had a good start but I believe the soil I planted them in, wasn't prepped correctly for growing watermelon.

I've never really had much problem growing sunflowers. Just direct sow them in a warm sunny area of your raised bed. Water twice a week or as needed... Depending on the variety, you may have to stake them. I did have a few bees visiting mine.. You may have issues with birds trying to eat the seed... Netting, may be a preventative option. If you like to watch birds, you can also net some flowers and leave some free for the birds. I don't actively grow sunflowers though because I don't do much cooking with them.

I'm in Marin County and I've found some melons that grow well in my garden. It is probably a little cooler summer here then where you are. Green flesh melons seem to grow better then orange flesh melons. I grew Rocky Ford Green last year and really liked it. I also grew Moon and Stars watermelon and got one good fruit and have decided they take up too much room for just a few good ( maybe) melons. I always plan to set out transplants around June 1. I start inside 3-4 weeks before, you don't want to transplant starts that are too small or two mature, they should have 1 set of true leaves... I make small hills of soil in my garden with indents in the top and the hills about 3 feet apart. The indent is where I will water the plants, it is helpful to put a stake or some other indicator, when the plants start growing it makes it easier to find where to water. You want to avoid getting water on the leaves. Then I cover the soil with black plastic to warm it up. I plant 3 melon starts on each mound, at the edge of the indent. Then cover with agri-fabric to protect from cold weather and bugs until the plants flower, then I remove the fabric. I think melons need a lot of water until the fruit is the size of a golf ball and then you start watering less. They also need a lot of heat to ripen fruit so setting them out early does not work very well. In my garden, critters will eat the melons right when they are starting to ripen, I use mesh drawstring bags usually sold in the produce section of the grocery store to protect from the critters. Also, put a flat rock or piece of wood under the melons so they are not sitting directly on the soil. I start my seeds in small paper pots and plant the whole thing since, according to what I've read, melons do not like to have their roots disturbed.

Even the seeds from super market cantaloupes can produce good fruit. I tried to grow many varieties last year including charentais and the ananas variety. All failed due to what look like disease or poor soil. But seeds from a supermarket-bought fruit produced very fragrant fruit and they tasted so much better than the supermarket cantaloupe.

Thanks for all the tips! I have thought about growing the melons on a trellis (and supporting the fruit in some sort of sling), too, but I'm not sure what to use for the sling. Plus, every time I've tried to grow anything on a trellis, the trellis has fallen over. The soil here is just too heavy to get the trellis in deep enough. I have some time to decide, anyway.

Honeydew grows well in 9-B, but it's not hot enough to grow watermelons very well. They do well in Bakersfield.

Every time I've tried to grow charentais melons, I've had powdery mildew. I'm trying again this year with a PM resistant hybrid.

Thanks! I think I'm going to try charintais--they just sound so tasty-- and another variety.