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 opportunity to plant chives in Emporia can be figured out by using 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 do well in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Emporia 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Emporia. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Emporia is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Emporia you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your chives in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Emporia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Emporia

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