Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when you can plant chard is to consult the USDA zone info for Pierre.

Planting Calendar for Chard

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

Chard do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chard in Pierre is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant chard and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your chard may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your chard indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Pierre. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Pierre may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Pierre it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to protect your chard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pierre

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Pierre

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