When to Plant Chinese chives in Freeport, IL

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.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant chinese chives in Freeport by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Chinese chives

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

Since chinese chives are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant chinese chives
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant chinese chives
Probably not a good time to plant chinese chives

The earliest that you can plant chinese chives in Freeport 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 chinese chives and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chinese chives may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your chinese chives indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Freeport. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Freeport is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Freeport you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your chinese chives if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Freeport

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 Freeport

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