One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when to plant chives is to check out the USDA zone info for Lexington.

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 start planting them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Lexington 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lexington. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lexington is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lexington last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your chives in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lexington

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 Lexington

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