One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant spearmint is to check out the USDA zone info for Bell.

Planting Calendar for Spearmint

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

Spearmint do well in cold weather which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Bell 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. Starting your spearmint indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Bell. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember 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 Bell and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Bell last frost occurs after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your spearmint if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Bell

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