One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Great Falls you can determine when it's a good idea to plant chard by checking out the USDA zone info.

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 plant them a little bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Great Falls 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 chard and expect a good harvest is probably August. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Great Falls the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Great Falls and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Great Falls last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your chard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Great Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Great Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Great Falls.