When to Plant Spinach in Washington, DC

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant spinach in Washington can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Spinach

Frost tolerance for spinach: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since spinach are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant spinach
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant spinach
Probably not a good time to plant spinach

The earliest that you can plant spinach in Washington is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant spinach and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your spinach may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your spinach indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Washington. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Washington is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Washington last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your spinach in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Washington

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