When to Plant Painted Tongues in Lakewood, WA

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Lakewood should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's possible to plant painted tongues.


Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

Frost tolerance for painted tongues: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant painted tongues until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant painted tongues
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant painted tongues
Probably not a good time to plant painted tongues

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Lakewood 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your painted tongues may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your painted tongues indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Lakewood. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lakewood is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lakewood you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your painted tongues if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lakewood

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 Low15°F
Highest Expected Low20°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 Lakewood

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