One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Van Buren you will be able to figure out when to plant chard.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Chard do well in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Van Buren 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. Any later than that and your chard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your chard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Van Buren. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Van Buren is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Van Buren there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your chard in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Van Buren

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Van Buren

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Van Buren.