Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant chives in Elgin should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chives

Frost tolerance for chives:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Chives tend to make it in cold weather which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chives 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 chives and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your chives may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Elgin and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Elgin you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your chives 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.