Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant chives is to look at the USDA zone info for Harrisburg.

Planting Calendar for Chives

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

Chives tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Harrisburg 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Harrisburg is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Harrisburg last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your chives if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harrisburg

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 Harrisburg

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