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 USDA zone info for Elgin can be reffered to in order to figure out when to plant tall phlox.

Planting Calendar for Tall Phlox

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

Since tall phlox do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant tall phlox in Elgin is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tall phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your tall phlox may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your tall phlox indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Elgin the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Elgin and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Elgin there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your tall phlox in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elgin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Elgin

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Elgin.