One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant new zealand spinach is to use the USDA zone info for Manchester.

Planting Calendar for New Zealand spinach

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

New Zealand spinach do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant new zealand spinach in Manchester 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 new zealand spinach and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your new zealand spinach may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your new zealand spinach indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Manchester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Manchester is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Manchester it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your new zealand spinach if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manchester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Manchester

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