Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when to plant banana by reviewing the USDA zone info for South Elgin.

Planting Calendar for Banana

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

It's a bad idea to plant banana until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant banana in South 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your banana indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in South 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 South Elgin is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in South Elgin it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your banana in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South 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 South Elgin

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Elgin.