One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

You can determine when you can plant spearmint in Salem by using 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.

Spearmint can survive in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Salem 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your spearmint indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Salem. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Salem is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Salem you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your spearmint if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Salem

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