One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Seattle you can determine when to plant banana by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Banana are not cold tolerant which means that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant banana in Seattle 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your banana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your banana indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Seattle the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Seattle may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Seattle you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your banana if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Seattle

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 Seattle

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