One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The first chance to plant neeps in Elgin can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Neeps

Frost tolerance for neeps:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since neeps do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant neeps 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 neeps and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your neeps may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your neeps indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Elgin. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in 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 surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your neeps 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.