Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when you can plant bachelor buttons by looking at the USDA zone info for Mercer Island.

Planting Calendar for Bachelor Buttons

Frost tolerance for bachelor buttons:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant bachelor buttons just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant bachelor buttons in Mercer Island 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 bachelor buttons and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bachelor buttons may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bachelor buttons indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Mercer Island is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mercer Island it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your bachelor buttons in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mercer Island

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 Mercer Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mercer Island.