The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant chinese celery is to examine the USDA zone info for Elgin.

Planting Calendar for Chinese celery

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

Chinese celery can survive in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chinese celery in 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 chinese celery and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your chinese celery may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your chinese celery indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Elgin. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin is just an average 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 chinese celery in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.