The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when to plant chard in New Paltz by referring to 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.

Since chard are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in New Paltz 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 fully mature. If you are starting your chard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in New Paltz. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for New Paltz is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in New Paltz it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your chard in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for New Paltz

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 New Paltz

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Paltz.