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.

A common way of getting a good idea when you can plant chard is to use the USDA zone info for New Cumberland.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Chard are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in New Cumberland 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your chard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in New Cumberland. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for New Cumberland is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in New Cumberland last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your chard if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Cumberland

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 New Cumberland

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Cumberland.