Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Vandalia you can determine when it's a good idea to plant chives by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chives

Frost tolerance for chives:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant chives much earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Vandalia 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 chives and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Vandalia. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Vandalia and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Vandalia last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your chives in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Vandalia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Vandalia

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