The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Mankato it's a good idea to figure out when it's possible to plant chives.

Planting Calendar for Chives

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

Chives are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Mankato is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant chives and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chives may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Mankato the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mankato may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Mankato there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to protect your chives in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mankato

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mankato

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