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

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant oregano is to examine the USDA zone info for Washington.

Planting Calendar for Oregano

Frost tolerance for oregano:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant oregano a little earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant oregano in Washington 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 oregano and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your oregano may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your oregano indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Washington. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Washington is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Washington last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your oregano if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Washington

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