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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant spearmint is to examine the USDA zone info for Clayton.

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

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Clayton 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 fully mature. Starting your spearmint indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Clayton. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Clayton is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Clayton there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your spearmint in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clayton

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 Clayton

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