One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Troy can be reffered to in order to determine when it's the best time to plant chard.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

You can plant chard a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Troy 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your chard indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Troy. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Troy is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Troy you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your chard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Troy

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 Troy

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