One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when you can plant spearmint in Zone 9a by reviewing 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.

Spearmint are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant spearmint in Zone 9a is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant spearmint and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your spearmint may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your spearmint indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Zone 9a. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 9a and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 9a you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your spearmint in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 9a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9a.