One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Cushing it's possible to estimate when it's the best time to plant chard.

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 more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Cushing 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 fully mature. Starting your chard indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cushing. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cushing is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cushing you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your chard in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cushing

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 Cushing

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