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

The first chance to plant squash in Happy Valley can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Squash

Frost tolerance for squash:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant squash until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant squash in Happy Valley is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Happy Valley. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Happy Valley may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Happy Valley it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your squash if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Happy Valley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Happy Valley

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Happy Valley.