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.

By using the USDA zone info for Salem you will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant stevia.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since stevia are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant stevia in Salem 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your stevia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your stevia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Salem. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Salem and it is different every year. Half of the time in Salem it frosts late in the year after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your stevia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

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 Salem

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