Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 should be reviewed to figure out when it's a good idea to plant bidens.

Planting Calendar for Bidens

Frost tolerance for bidens:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since bidens require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bidens in Elgin is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bidens and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bidens may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your bidens indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Elgin. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elgin you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your bidens in the event of a late frost.

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.