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 Watertown you can estimate when it's possible to plant chicory by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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 a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chicory in Watertown 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 chicory and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your chicory may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your chicory 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 May 15 in Watertown. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Watertown and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Watertown last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your chicory if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Watertown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Watertown

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