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.

You will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant spearmint by referring to the USDA zone info for Berkeley.

Planting Calendar for Spearmint

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

Spearmint tend to make it in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Berkeley 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your spearmint indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Berkeley the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Berkeley and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Berkeley there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to cover your spearmint if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Berkeley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Berkeley

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