One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Taos you can figure out when you can plant chicory by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chicory

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

You can plant chicory a little earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant chicory in Taos 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 chicory and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chicory may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chicory indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Taos. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Taos may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Taos last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your chicory if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Taos

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Taos

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