One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant spearmint is to refer to the USDA zone info for Marshall.

Planting Calendar for Spearmint

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

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

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Marshall 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 spearmint and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your spearmint may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your spearmint indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Marshall. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marshall and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Marshall it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to protect your spearmint if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marshall

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Marshall

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