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

The first opportunity to plant thyme in Waterville can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

Thyme are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in Waterville 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. If you wait any later than that and your thyme may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your thyme indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Waterville. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

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

USDA Zone Info for Waterville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Waterville

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