When to Plant Chives in Zone 11b

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

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant chives is to examine the USDA zone info for Zone 11b.


Planting Calendar for Chives

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

Since chives are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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 Zone 11b is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant chives and expect a good harvest is probably November. Any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your chives indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 11b it never frosts. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 45°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 11b is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since it never frosts in Zone 11b you do not have to be ready to cover your chives in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 11b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)Never
Lowest Expected Low45°F
Highest Expected Low50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 11b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 11b.