One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's the best time to plant chard is to look at the USDA zone info for Lamar.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Chard are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Lamar 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chard indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lamar. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lamar may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lamar it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your chard in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lamar

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 Lamar

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