Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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.

One way of determining when to plant chives is to examine the USDA zone info for Edwardsville.

Planting Calendar for Chives

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

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

The earliest that you can plant chives in Edwardsville 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 really do well. If you are starting your chives indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Edwardsville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Edwardsville is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Edwardsville you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your chives if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Edwardsville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Edwardsville

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