One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Auburn should be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time to plant spearmint.

Planting Calendar for Spearmint

Frost tolerance for spearmint:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Spearmint do ok in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Auburn is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant spearmint and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your spearmint may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your spearmint indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Auburn the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Auburn may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Auburn there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your spearmint if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Auburn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Auburn

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