One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Elgin you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant creeping phlox.

Planting Calendar for Creeping Phlox

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

Creeping Phlox do well in cold which means that you can plant them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant creeping 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 creeping phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your creeping phlox may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your creeping phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Elgin. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Elgin may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Elgin there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your creeping 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.