Yes — Strong Match
mache is grown as an annual, so season length decides it here, not a winter zone — and West Virginia's typical season runs ~204 frost-free days against the ~45 mache needs.
Sow by about Sep 10
Mache is grown as an annual, so what decides it here is season length, not a winter zone. It needs about 45 frost-free days and a typical West Virginia season runs ~204 frost-free days, leaving 159 days of slack. That is room to sow as late as about Sep 10 and still finish before the usual first freeze (Oct 30), or to run a second succession.
Want more weeks at either end of that window? How to buy the weeks →
45 frost-free days required against West Virginia’s ~204-day season. NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS 1991-2020 (28°F killing freeze), state median across counties, via stateClimateData.ts.
Mache in West Virginia — the short answer
Mache in West Virginia: full sun, against a state median of ~204 frost-free days.
- West Virginia zones
- 5b-7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Apr 4 - Apr 15 – Oct 26 - Nov 5
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 170 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
- Days to maturity
- 50 days
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Mache is grown as an annual, so your winter zone isn't the deciding factor — your frost-free window is. A typical West Virginia site runs ~204 frost-free days, but that is a state median, not your yard: slope, trees, and low spots move the last-frost date across a single parcel. Enter your address and we'll score mache against your land's actual frost dates, sun, and soil.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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West Virginia is not one climate
A single West Virginia answer averages 55 counties whose growing seasons are 62 days apart — from 170 frost-free days in Pocahontas County to 232 in Logan County. Which end of that your land sits nearer changes what mache can finish before the first hard freeze.
The middle half of 55 counties runs 194–214 days, with a median of 204 days — a 62-day span end to end.
Measured across 55 West Virginia counties. NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Zone Comparison
Mache Needs
- USDA Zones: Data pending
- Frost-Free Days: 45+
- Sun: Full Sun
- Mature size: 6 in tall
- Picking window: ~21 days of harvest
- Drought tolerance: Low
West Virginia Has
- USDA Zones: 5b-7a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Apr 4 - Apr 15
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 26 - Nov 5
- Annual Rainfall: 38-56 inches
- Common Soils: Shale-derived, Sandy loam, Clay loam
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Mache in West Virginia
The frost window
Across West Virginia, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 4 and Apr 15, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 26 and Nov 5 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 194-day window you can count on — up to 215 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
Frost hardiness
Mache takes cold down to about -5°F before a freeze kills it (FAO ECOCROP), so you can plant on the early side of West Virginia's window — even a few weeks before the final hard freeze. That is the point where cold damages growing tissue, not a winter-survival floor — an established perennial comes through far colder while dormant, which is what its hardiness zone tells you.
When to start the seed
Mache is direct-sown where it grows rather than started under cover, so there is no seed-tray head start to bank — West Virginia's dates above are the whole calendar for it. That makes the last-freeze date the binding constraint, and a warmer pocket of your own yard is worth more to this crop than it is to a transplanted one.
Days to maturity vs. the window
At 50 days to maturity (Growable Ground Plant Database), counting from the last hard freeze it ripens with 144 days to spare even in West Virginia's tightest freeze scenario — room for a later start or a second sowing.
Timing tuned to sub-state frost dates — Pocahontas County, not the statewide average.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
Frost-free days
Mache wants 45+ frost-free days; a typical West Virginia site sees ~204 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). That leaves comfortable headroom for succession planting.
Growing degree days
Mache needs ~600 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. The state median runs ~2941 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so West Virginia's typical season clears that easily.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Mache likes near-neutral soil (pH 6-7.5). That's the common-ground band across West Virginia's shale-derived and sandy loam — a soil test confirms it for your site. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 6.5 and 7 — worth knowing before you decide whether a West Virginia soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your West Virginia site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, raised beds or amendment with compost solve it.
Your land, not the state average
Whether mache is safe to eat from West Virginia soil is a block-by-block question, not a town-wide one — 17,312 documented contamination sites mean levels spike on some parcels and not the one next door. What mache takes up depends on the horizon its roots actually reach on your parcel, so only a test on your address settles it.
Check your parcel → Source: USDA NRCS SSURGO + EPA/state contamination databases.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. West Virginia soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant mache for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before mache goes in. What follows is West Virginia’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across West Virginia — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across West Virginia — 17,312 documented sites across 7 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 112 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
West Virginia carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across West Virginia
Severity Distribution
across West Virginia
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
- •Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
- •On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Mache in West Virginia
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but West Virginia growers also need to think about:
Steep terrain limits usable growing area
Thin acidic soils over shale bedrock
Short mountain valley growing seasons
Growing mache here specifically
Because you eat the leaves of mache that sit in the soil, contamination matters more than for most crops — West Virginia has 17,312 documented sites, and lead concentrates block by block, not town-wide.
Test your soil for lead first, and raise mache in clean imported soil if the reading is high. How to handle it →
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every West Virginia grower, not just mache — is covered on the West Virginia growing guide.
Timing shifts within West Virginia
West Virginia isn't one climate. In Pocahontas County, the last hard freeze (28°F) holds until about Apr 30 — roughly 20 days later than the recorded state median — so plant mache to your county's window, not the statewide date.
Mache needs about 45 days of frost-free season to complete its cycle. Even Pocahontas County — West Virginia’s shortest season at 170 frost-free days — clears that by 125 days, so season length isn’t the constraint anywhere in West Virginia. What varies is your own parcel.
Across West Virginia’s 55 counties the frost-free season runs from 170 days in Pocahontas County to 232 days in Logan County — a spread of 62 days, which is why a single statewide planting date misleads. The median West Virginia county sees 204 frost-free days, leaving mache about 159 days of slack on a typical parcel — room for a second sowing where the season runs long.
County last-freeze dates and frost-free day counts: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F freeze (earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost"). Mache's 45-day requirement: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database (minimum frost-free days). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Mache draws honeybees (low value, Growable Ground Plant Database). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, mache can only work that bloom inside West Virginia's frost window — roughly 204 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (Apr 4 - Apr 15) and closing at the first (Oct 26 - Nov 5), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020.
West Virginia Cooperative Extension
For West Virginia-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for mache, the canonical source is WVU Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Mache native to West Virginia?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Mache as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of West Virginia's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few West Virginia natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The West Virginia growing guide lists USDA-documented natives for the state.
Native-range data: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution records, accessed 2026-07-01.
Common Questions About Growing Mache in West Virginia
When can I plant Mache in West Virginia?
West Virginia's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 4 and Apr 15, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 26 and Nov 5 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Mache takes cold to about -5°F before a freeze kills it (FAO ECOCROP — the point where cold damages growing tissue, not a winter-survival floor), so plant on the early side of that window — even ahead of the final hard freeze.
Can Mache mature before first frost in West Virginia?
Yes — Mache matures in 50 days (Growable Ground Plant Database), and West Virginia's dependable hard-freeze-free window runs 194 days (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020), leaving 144 days of margin. Plant once the last hard freeze has passed — two to three weeks later for anything tender — and it ripens ahead of the first fall freeze.
What hardiness zone is Mache grown in across West Virginia?
West Virginia spans USDA hardiness zones 5b-7a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Mache carries a range of zones Data pending, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical West Virginia site have?
A typical West Virginia site sees ~204 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Mache needs 45+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date. In cooler counties like Pocahontas, the freeze-free season runs shorter than the state average, so verify your own county's window.
Is Mache native to West Virginia?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Mache as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of West Virginia's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few West Virginia natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Mache in West Virginia?
Mache prefers pH 6-7.5 and well (dry spells) drainage (Growable Ground Plant Database). That sits in the common-ground band across West Virginia soils — a 30-minute soil test from a local Extension lab confirms it for your specific site.
Will Mache actually grow on my specific land in West Virginia?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores mache against your address's exact soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in West Virginia
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores mache against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that West Virginia mache averages can't show:
We read public map data around West Virginia — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the West Virginia mache average
Explore More
Growing guides for mache
Explore West Virginia county by county
West Virginia carries 55 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for mache there:
Where else mache grows
Mache's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to West Virginia in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in West Virginia
West Virginia has a growing page for 893 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Analysis by the Growable Ground research team, grounded in USDA PLANTS, USDA NRCS SSURGO, NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020), and named Cooperative Extension sources. How we know →
Cite this dataset
Kirchick, M. (2026). Growable Ground Plant Database [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21435643
Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21435643
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