One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The best time to plant garlic in Elgin can be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garlic

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

Garlic tend to make it in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant garlic 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 garlic and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your garlic may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your garlic indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Elgin. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elgin you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your garlic if you have 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.