When to Plant Spearmint in Hampshire, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when you can plant spearmint by looking at the USDA zone info for Hampshire.


Planting Calendar for Spearmint

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

You can plant spearmint earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Hampshire 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 spearmint and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hampshire and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Hampshire it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your spearmint if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hampshire

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hampshire

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