One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The earliest that you can plant monkey flower in Elgin should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Monkey Flower

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

You should not plant monkey flower until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant monkey flower 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 monkey flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your monkey flower may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your monkey flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Elgin the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Elgin you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your monkey flower if you have 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.