The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Lafayette should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chard

Frost tolerance for chard:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since chard do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Lafayette 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 chard and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your chard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your chard indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Lafayette. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lafayette may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lafayette you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your chard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lafayette

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 Lafayette

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