One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant chamomile is to look at the USDA zone info for Elgin.

Planting Calendar for Chamomile

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

You can plant chamomile a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant chamomile 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 chamomile and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chamomile may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your chamomile indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Elgin. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember 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 you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your chamomile if you have 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.