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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant chicory is to use the USDA zone info for Beaufort.

Planting Calendar for Chicory

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

Since chicory are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chicory in Beaufort 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 chicory and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your chicory may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your chicory indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Beaufort the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Beaufort is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Beaufort you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your chicory in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Beaufort

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 Beaufort

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