One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of estimating when to plant chard is to consult the USDA zone info for Batesville.

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 tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Batesville 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 really do well. If you are starting your chard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Batesville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Batesville is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Batesville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your chard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Batesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Batesville

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