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Swiss chard

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When to plant swiss chard

Tolerates both heat and light frost and crops for months from one sowing.

Photo: mercedesfromtheeighties, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The rules we use

Frost
Takes a light frost. Can go out 2 weeks before the average last frost.
Soil warm enough
Weekly mean around 8°C46°F or more
Heat limit
Average highs above 33°C91°F while it matures (it bolts)
Days to harvest
About 55 days from sowing in warm weather; longer when it is cool
Picking
About 16 weeks from one planting

General guidance, kept on the cautious side. Varieties differ: check the seed packet. How the dates are worked out.

At a glance

Grows outdoors in
89 of 89 cities
Earliest start (north)
Charleston, January 1
Latest start (north)
Phoenix, October 13
Can go in this week
23 cities

Swiss chard: city by city

Sorted from the earliest start after midwinter to the latest. Southern-hemisphere cities follow, with their seasons six months on.

Sow indoorsSow or plant outdoorsHarvestFrost seasonToday

Northern hemisphere
CharlestonSouth Carolina
JacksonvilleFlorida
TampaFlorida
MiamiFlorida
Los AngelesCalifornia
San DiegoCalifornia
San FranciscoCalifornia
San JoseCalifornia
HonoluluHawaii
Las VegasNevada
TucsonArizona
AustinTexas
San AntonioTexas
DallasTexas
El PasoTexas
MemphisTennessee
BirminghamAlabama
Little RockArkansas
AtlantaGeorgia
PortlandOregon
CharlotteNorth Carolina
RaleighNorth Carolina
NashvilleTennessee
TulsaOklahoma
WashingtonDistrict of Columbia
RichmondVirginia
LouisvilleKentucky
Kansas CityMissouri
Oklahoma CityOklahoma
BaltimoreMaryland
AlbuquerqueNew Mexico
LondonEngland
St. LouisMissouri
Salt Lake CityUtah
PhiladelphiaPennsylvania
SeattleWashington
BristolEngland
CardiffWales
ManchesterEngland
VancouverBritish Columbia
IndianapolisIndiana
CincinnatiOhio
DublinIreland
New YorkNew York
PittsburghPennsylvania
ColumbusOhio
OmahaNebraska
Des MoinesIowa
BelfastNorthern Ireland
BirminghamEngland
ClevelandOhio
BoiseIdaho
ChicagoIllinois
GlasgowScotland
BostonMassachusetts
DetroitMichigan
SpokaneWashington
MinneapolisMinnesota
MilwaukeeWisconsin
EdinburghScotland
DenverColorado
BillingsMontana
MadisonWisconsin
BuffaloNew York
PortlandMaine
TorontoOntario
FargoNorth Dakota
MontrealQuebec
BurlingtonVermont
OttawaOntario
EdmontonAlberta
HalifaxNova Scotia
AnchorageAlaska
WinnipegManitoba
CalgaryAlberta
New OrleansLouisiana
OrlandoFlorida
SacramentoCalifornia
HoustonTexas
FresnoCalifornia
PhoenixArizona
Southern hemisphere
HobartTasmania
CanberraAustralian Capital Territory
SydneyNew South Wales
MelbourneVictoria
BrisbaneQueensland
PerthWestern Australia
AdelaideSouth Australia
AucklandNew Zealand

Swipe sideways to see the whole year →

Dates

CitySow outdoorsHarvest
Charleston South CarolinaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Jacksonville FloridaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Tampa FloridaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Miami FloridaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Los Angeles CaliforniaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
San Diego CaliforniaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
San Francisco CaliforniaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
San Jose CaliforniaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Honolulu HawaiiJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Las Vegas NevadaJan 10 – Apr 14, Sep 25 – Oct 19Mar 25 – Sep 13, Nov 6 – Dec 31
Tucson ArizonaJan 22 – Apr 4, Oct 2 – Oct 31Mar 21 – Sep 3, Nov 13 – Dec 30
Austin TexasFeb 6 – May 5, Sep 9 – Oct 26Apr 1 – Oct 4, Oct 20 – Dec 24
San Antonio TexasFeb 6 – Apr 30, Sep 10 – Oct 29Mar 28 – Sep 29, Oct 21 – Dec 24
Dallas TexasFeb 16 – May 6, Sep 6 – Oct 18Apr 12 – Oct 5, Oct 17 – Dec 20
El Paso TexasFeb 16 – Apr 15, Sep 6 – Oct 10Apr 15 – Sep 14, Oct 17 – Dec 11
Memphis TennesseeMar 2 – Jun 3, Jul 4 – Oct 3Apr 30 – Dec 7
Birmingham AlabamaMar 7 – May 27, Jul 17 – Oct 4Apr 28 – Dec 2
Little Rock ArkansasMar 7 – May 20, Aug 12 – Oct 2Apr 29 – Dec 1
Atlanta GeorgiaMar 10 – Oct 2May 1 – Nov 29
Portland OregonMar 15 – Sep 11Jun 1 – Dec 10
Charlotte North CarolinaMar 16 – Sep 28May 6 – Nov 24
Raleigh North CarolinaMar 17 – Sep 28May 9 – Nov 25
Nashville TennesseeMar 17 – Jun 1, Jul 10 – Sep 26May 9 – Nov 24
Tulsa OklahomaMar 17 – May 23, Aug 22 – Sep 27May 8 – Nov 25
Washington District of ColumbiaMar 19 – Sep 24May 18 – Dec 9
Richmond VirginiaMar 20 – Sep 25May 14 – Nov 25
Louisville KentuckyMar 20 – Sep 21May 16 – Nov 24
Kansas City MissouriMar 21 – Sep 17May 19 – Nov 23
Oklahoma City OklahomaMar 21 – May 18, Aug 22 – Sep 27May 9 – Nov 23
Baltimore MarylandMar 22 – Sep 24May 19 – Dec 12
Albuquerque New MexicoMar 23 – May 9, Aug 2 – Sep 18May 19 – Nov 24
London EnglandMar 24 – Sep 11Jun 9 – Dec 12
St. Louis MissouriMar 25 – Sep 18May 18 – Nov 16
Salt Lake City UtahMar 26 – May 25, Aug 18 – Sep 9Jun 1 – Nov 21
Philadelphia PennsylvaniaMar 28 – Sep 21May 26 – Dec 1
Seattle WashingtonMar 29 – Sep 7Jun 12 – Dec 8
Bristol EnglandMar 29 – Sep 10Jun 15 – Dec 13
Cardiff WalesMar 30 – Sep 12Jun 15 – Dec 16
Manchester EnglandMar 31 – Sep 4Jun 16 – Dec 7
Vancouver British ColumbiaMar 31 – Sep 2Jun 12 – Nov 26
Indianapolis IndianaApr 1 – Sep 13May 28 – Nov 16
Cincinnati OhioApr 2 – Sep 15May 25 – Nov 15
Dublin IrelandApr 2 – Sep 1Jun 22 – Dec 1
New York New YorkApr 3 – Sep 19Jun 2 – Dec 11
Pittsburgh PennsylvaniaApr 4 – Sep 12May 31 – Nov 18
Columbus OhioApr 4 – Sep 12May 30 – Nov 17
Omaha NebraskaApr 4 – Sep 7May 31 – Nov 11
Des Moines IowaApr 5 – Sep 6Jun 1 – Nov 10
Belfast Northern IrelandApr 5 – Aug 27Jun 21 – Nov 28
Birmingham EnglandApr 8 – Aug 30Jun 23 – Dec 1
Cleveland OhioApr 10 – Sep 11Jun 6 – Dec 3
Boise IdahoApr 10 – Jun 8, Jul 16 – Jul 21, Aug 12 – Sep 5Jun 10 – Nov 11
Chicago IllinoisApr 11 – Sep 7Jun 9 – Nov 21
Glasgow ScotlandApr 13 – Aug 22Jun 30 – Nov 24
Boston MassachusettsApr 14 – Sep 9Jun 12 – Nov 30
Detroit MichiganApr 14 – Sep 7Jun 10 – Nov 21
Spokane WashingtonApr 14 – Aug 23Jun 19 – Nov 5
Minneapolis MinnesotaApr 16 – Aug 30Jun 11 – Nov 8
Milwaukee WisconsinApr 19 – Sep 2Jun 17 – Nov 19
Edinburgh ScotlandApr 19 – Aug 21Jul 6 – Nov 21
Denver ColoradoApr 20 – Sep 1Jun 14 – Oct 29
Billings MontanaApr 20 – Aug 24Jun 20 – Oct 28
Madison WisconsinApr 21 – Aug 30Jun 17 – Oct 31
Buffalo New YorkApr 24 – Sep 5Jun 20 – Nov 16
Portland MaineApr 24 – Aug 29Jun 22 – Nov 5
Toronto OntarioApr 24 – Aug 31Jun 20 – Oct 30
Fargo North DakotaApr 26 – Aug 21Jun 19 – Oct 21
Montreal QuebecApr 26 – Aug 27Jun 20 – Oct 30
Burlington VermontApr 28 – Aug 30Jun 24 – Nov 5
Ottawa OntarioApr 28 – Aug 24Jun 22 – Oct 23
Edmonton AlbertaMay 6 – Aug 3Jul 7 – Oct 10
Halifax Nova ScotiaMay 8 – Aug 28Jul 9 – Nov 7
Anchorage AlaskaMay 10 – Jul 22Jul 14 – Oct 20
Winnipeg ManitobaMay 10 – Aug 13Jul 1 – Oct 13
Calgary AlbertaMay 12 – Aug 1Jul 14 – Oct 1
New Orleans LouisianaJul 29 – May 15Jan 1 – Dec 31
Orlando FloridaJul 29 – May 17Jan 1 – Dec 31
Sacramento CaliforniaAug 12 – May 18Jan 1 – Dec 31
Houston TexasSep 3 – May 3Oct 14 – Oct 2
Fresno CaliforniaSep 17 – Apr 29Oct 29 – Sep 28
Phoenix ArizonaOct 13 – Mar 24Nov 25 – Aug 23
Hobart TasmaniaAug 11 – Mar 27Nov 8 – Jun 28
Canberra Australian Capital TerritorySep 11 – Mar 19Nov 16 – May 24
Sydney New South WalesJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Melbourne VictoriaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Brisbane QueenslandJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Perth Western AustraliaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Adelaide South AustraliaJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Auckland New ZealandJan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31

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