Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant thyme is to check out the USDA zone info for Northampton.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

Since thyme are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in Northampton 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 thyme and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your thyme may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your thyme indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Northampton. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Northampton is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Northampton it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your thyme in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Northampton

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 Northampton

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