Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant chives is to look at the USDA zone info for Costa Mesa.

Planting Calendar for Chives

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

Chives do well in cold which means that you can start planting them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Costa Mesa 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 chives and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Costa Mesa. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Costa Mesa is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Costa Mesa you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your chives if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Costa Mesa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Costa Mesa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Costa Mesa.