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.

It's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant chard by referring to the USDA zone info for Somerville.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Chard are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Somerville 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 chard and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your chard may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your chard indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Somerville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Somerville may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Somerville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your chard in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Somerville

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 Somerville

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