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 estimating when it's a good idea to plant spearmint is to look at the USDA zone info for Anacortes.

Planting Calendar for Spearmint

Frost tolerance for spearmint:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Spearmint do well in cold which means that you can get them planted much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Anacortes 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 spearmint and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your spearmint may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your spearmint indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Anacortes is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Anacortes you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your spearmint if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Anacortes

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 Anacortes

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