One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant fanflower is to examine the USDA zone info for Elgin.

Planting Calendar for Fanflower

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

You really shouldn't plant fanflower until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant fanflower 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 fanflower and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your fanflower may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your fanflower indoors is a great way to get them started 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.

Remember that USDA zone info for Elgin is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Elgin last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your fanflower in the event of 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.