One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Fountain you can estimate when it's the best time to plant chives by using 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.

Chives are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Fountain 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 fully mature. Starting your chives 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 Fountain. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Fountain may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fountain you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your chives if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fountain

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 Fountain

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