One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

In Elgin you can figure out when it's possible to plant calliopsis by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

Frost tolerance for calliopsis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant calliopsis until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in 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 Elgin may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Elgin it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your calliopsis in the event of a surprise 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.