One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 first chance to plant nigella in Elgin can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

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

Since nigella are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant nigella 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 nigella and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your nigella may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your nigella 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.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Elgin and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Elgin you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your nigella 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.