When to Plant Spearmint in Metropolis, IL

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

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant spearmint is to use the USDA zone info for Metropolis.


Planting Calendar for Spearmint

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

Since spearmint do well in cold you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the 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 Metropolis 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. If you wait any later than that and your spearmint may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your spearmint indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Metropolis the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Metropolis and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Metropolis there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your spearmint if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Metropolis

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 Metropolis

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