When to Plant Chard in Zone 1b

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 Zone 1b can be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant chard.


Planting Calendar for Chard

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

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

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

The earliest that you can plant chard in Zone 1b is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant chard and expect a good harvest is probably July. If you wait any later than that and your chard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your chard indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 1b the average date of last frost happens on June 15. It might get as low as -55°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zone 1b is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 1b last frost occurs after June 15 be ready to protect your chard in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 1b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 1b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)June 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)July 15
Lowest Expected Low-55°F
Highest Expected Low-50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -55°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -50°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 1b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 1b.