One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant chard is to look at the USDA zone info for Asbury Park.

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 bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Asbury Park 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 grow to maturity. Starting your chard indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Asbury Park. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Asbury Park is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Asbury Park last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your chard in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Asbury Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Asbury Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Asbury Park.