Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 figuring out when it's a good idea to plant mustard is to check out the USDA zone info for Elgin.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

Frost tolerance for mustard:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You can not plant mustard until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant mustard 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 mustard and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your mustard may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your mustard indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Elgin. In the coldest months of winter you can 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 is different every year. Half of the time in Elgin it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your mustard 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.