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

The best time to plant stocks in Washington can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Stocks

Frost tolerance for stocks:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Stocks tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant stocks in Washington is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant stocks and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your stocks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your stocks indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Washington the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Washington is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Washington last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your stocks in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

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 Washington

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