One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of getting a good idea when you can plant spearmint is to refer to the USDA zone info for La Quinta.

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 tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in La Quinta 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your spearmint indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in La Quinta. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for La Quinta may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in La Quinta you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your spearmint in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Quinta

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 La Quinta

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Quinta.