One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Boston you should be able to determine when you can plant chicory.

Planting Calendar for Chicory

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

Since chicory do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chicory in Boston 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 chicory and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chicory may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chicory indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Boston. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Boston is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Boston you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your chicory in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Boston

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 Boston

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