One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant chives by using the USDA zone info for Wood Dale.

Planting Calendar for Chives

Frost tolerance for chives:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Chives do well in cold which means that you can plant them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Wood Dale 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. If you wait any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your chives indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Wood Dale. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Wood Dale is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Wood Dale last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your chives in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wood Dale

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 Wood Dale

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Wood Dale.