One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when to plant chard by checking out the USDA zone info for Downingtown.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

You can plant chard a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Downingtown 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 chard and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your chard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your chard indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Downingtown. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Downingtown is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Downingtown you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your chard in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Downingtown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Downingtown

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