Days to Maturity: 80 from direct sow

One of our best-tasting red seedless varieties is also one of the highest-yielding we’ve ever grown. This is the Triple Crown prize: delicious seedless melons and plenty of ’em.

The 18- to 20-pound fruits have striped rinds, a convenient oval shape, and the firmest, most succulent flesh you will ever encounter in a watermelon—it doesn’t fall to bits when being cut for watermelon balls, yet it’s juicy and tender sweet, too.

Since this is a seedless variety, we’ve included pollinator seed in every packet. But if you don’t want to plant the whole packet, if you plant Triple Crown near any seeded watermelon variety, the honey bees will cross-pollinate it for you. And if you’ve never grown seedless watermelon before, know that in addition to your seedless melons, you’ll get a few with seeds, and a few that are smaller and paler than the rest (but just as delicious). That’s the answer to the question everyone asks: “How do you get seeds from a seedless watermelon?”

Sow the seeds direct when the soil is warm and all danger of frost is past. Sow the seeds in raised hills or rows 3 inches high. Thin to 3 plants per hill 3 feet apart, or 1 plant per foot in rows. For earlier fruit, seeds may be started indoors.