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.

The USDA zone info for The Colony can be used to determine when it's a good idea to plant chinese chives.

Planting Calendar for Chinese chives

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

Since chinese chives do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In The Colony the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for The Colony may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in The Colony you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your chinese chives in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for The Colony

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 The Colony

You may be interested in your other planting guides for The Colony.