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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Washington you should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant beets.

Planting Calendar for Beets

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

Beets are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant beets 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 beets and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your beets may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your beets indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Washington. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Washington is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Washington it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your beets in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Washington

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