One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Elgin it's a good idea to figure out when it's possible to plant flower-of-an-hour.

Planting Calendar for Flower-of-an-Hour

Frost tolerance for flower-of-an-hour:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since flower-of-an-hour do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant flower-of-an-hour 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 flower-of-an-hour and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your flower-of-an-hour may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your flower-of-an-hour indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Elgin. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Elgin you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your flower-of-an-hour 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.