The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Shelby can be looked at to figure out when you can plant chard.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Since chard do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Shelby 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your chard indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Shelby. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Shelby may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Shelby last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your chard in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shelby

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 Shelby

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