One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Kirkland you can estimate when you can 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 one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Kirkland 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. If you wait any later than that and your spearmint may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your spearmint indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Kirkland. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Kirkland is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Kirkland last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your spearmint in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Kirkland

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 Kirkland

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