One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Elgin you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant hosta by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

Frost tolerance for hosta:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Hosta do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hosta 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 hosta and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your hosta may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your hosta indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is 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 not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Elgin you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your hosta 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.