The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant thyme by referring to the USDA zone info for Manchester.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

Thyme do well in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Manchester. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Manchester is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Manchester you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your thyme if you have one of those late frosts.

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.