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.

The first chance to plant chives in Bourbonnais should be figured out by referring to 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 can survive in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Bourbonnais 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Bourbonnais. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bourbonnais and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Bourbonnais last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your chives in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bourbonnais

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Bourbonnais

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