One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Heath you can figure out when it's the best time 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Heath 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. Any later than that and your chard may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your chard indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Heath. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Heath and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Heath last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your chard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Heath

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Heath

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