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.

In Elgin you can figure out when to plant iceland poppy by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Iceland Poppy

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

You can plant iceland poppy a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant iceland poppy 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 iceland poppy and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iceland poppy may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your iceland poppy indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Elgin is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elgin it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your iceland poppy 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.