One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 Eau Claire can be read to figure out when you can plant chives.

Planting Calendar for Chives

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

You can plant chives earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Eau Claire 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 chives and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your chives indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Eau Claire. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Eau Claire and it is different every year. Half of the time in Eau Claire you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your chives in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Eau Claire

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Eau Claire

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Eau Claire.