One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 first opportunity to plant chives in Zone 9a can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chives

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

Chives are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Zone 9a 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 October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chives may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Zone 9a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 9a may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Zone 9a there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your chives if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 9a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Zone 9a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 9a.