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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Cottage Grove it's possible to determine when it's possible to plant chives.

Planting Calendar for Chives

Frost tolerance for chives:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Chives are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Cottage Grove 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 chives and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your chives indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Cottage Grove. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Cottage Grove is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Cottage Grove it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your chives in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cottage Grove

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Cottage Grove

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cottage Grove.