One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In South Elgin you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant cilantro by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cilantro

Frost tolerance for cilantro:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Cilantro do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cilantro in South Elgin is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cilantro may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cilantro indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in South Elgin. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for South Elgin is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in South Elgin last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your cilantro if you have one of those late frosts.

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.