One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant chives in Hood River by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chives

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

Chives are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Hood River 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. If you wait any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your chives 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 Hood River. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hood River is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Hood River there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your chives if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hood River

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Hood River

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hood River.