Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Dayton you can determine when it's a good idea to plant spearmint by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Dayton is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

In Dayton the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Dayton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dayton you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your spearmint in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Dayton

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