One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant chives by referring to the USDA zone info for Mesquite.

Planting Calendar for Chives

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

Chives do ok in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Mesquite 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. If you wait any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Mesquite the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Mesquite may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mesquite it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your chives if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mesquite

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Mesquite

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