One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant fuchsia by using the USDA zone info for South Elgin.

Planting Calendar for Fuchsia

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

Since fuchsia do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for South Elgin and it is different every year. Since half of the time in South Elgin you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your fuchsia 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.