When to Plant Chives in Vancouver, WA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when you can plant chives by checking out the USDA zone info for Vancouver.


Planting Calendar for Chives

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

Chives are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant chives
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant chives
Probably not a good time to plant chives

The earliest that you can plant chives in Vancouver 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. Starting your chives indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Vancouver. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Vancouver and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Vancouver it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your chives if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Vancouver

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)November 15
Lowest Expected Low15°F
Highest Expected Low20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Vancouver

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