One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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 determining when to plant chives is to consult the USDA zone info for Mount Carmel.

Planting Calendar for Chives

Frost tolerance for chives:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since chives do well in cold you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Mount Carmel 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 chives and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Mount Carmel the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Carmel is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mount Carmel you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your chives if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Carmel

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 Mount Carmel

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Carmel.