One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Federal Way you can determine when it's a good idea to plant flowering maple by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Flowering Maple

Frost tolerance for flowering maple:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant flowering maple until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant flowering maple in Federal Way 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 flowering maple and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your flowering maple may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your flowering maple indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Federal Way the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Federal Way is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Federal Way you get a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your flowering maple in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Federal Way

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 Federal Way

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Federal Way.