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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Orange City you should be able to estimate 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.

You can plant chard a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Orange City 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your chard indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Orange City. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Orange City and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Orange City there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your chard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orange City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Orange City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Orange City.