Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Clayton you can estimate when to plant chard by looking at 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 do ok in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Clayton 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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

In Clayton the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Clayton is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Clayton you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your chard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clayton

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 Clayton

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