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

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant cabbage by using the USDA zone info for Elgin.

Planting Calendar for Cabbage

Frost tolerance for cabbage:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant cabbage just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant cabbage 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 cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cabbage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cabbage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Elgin the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elgin you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your cabbage if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elgin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Elgin

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