One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You should be able to determine when to plant chard by using the USDA zone info for Lewistown.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Chard are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Lewistown 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lewistown. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lewistown may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Lewistown it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your chard in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lewistown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Lewistown

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