One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Altoona you can figure out when it's possible to plant chinese chives by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chinese chives

Frost tolerance for chinese chives:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Chinese chives can survive in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chinese chives in Altoona 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 chinese chives and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chinese chives may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your chinese 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 Altoona. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Altoona may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your chinese chives in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

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 Altoona

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