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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant chives is to refer to the USDA zone info for Dearborn Heights.

Planting Calendar for Chives

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

Since chives do well in cold you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Dearborn Heights 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chives may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 Dearborn Heights. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dearborn Heights is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Dearborn Heights you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your chives in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dearborn Heights

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 Dearborn Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Dearborn Heights.