One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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 Avenal can be used to determine when it's possible 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 can survive in cold weather which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Avenal 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. If you wait any later than that and your spearmint may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your spearmint indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Avenal. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Avenal and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Avenal it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your spearmint in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Avenal

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 Avenal

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