One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant salsify by checking out the USDA zone info for Tacoma.

Planting Calendar for Salsify

Frost tolerance for salsify:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since salsify are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant salsify in Tacoma is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant salsify and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your salsify may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your salsify indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Tacoma. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Tacoma is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Tacoma you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your salsify if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tacoma

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 Tacoma

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