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.

In Gary you can figure out when you can plant spearmint by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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 quite a bit earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Gary 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. Any later than that and your spearmint may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your spearmint indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Gary. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gary is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Gary it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your spearmint if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gary

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 Gary

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