When to Plant Spinach in Anchorage, AK

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Anchorage should be read to determine when you can plant spinach.


Planting Calendar for Spinach

Frost tolerance for spinach: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Spinach are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant spinach
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant spinach
Probably not a good time to plant spinach

The earliest that you can plant spinach in Anchorage is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant spinach and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your spinach may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your spinach indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Anchorage the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Anchorage is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Anchorage last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your spinach if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Anchorage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Anchorage

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Anchorage.