One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The USDA zone info for Elgin can be reviewed to determine when you can plant pennyroyal.

Planting Calendar for Pennyroyal

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

Since pennyroyal are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennyroyal 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 pennyroyal and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pennyroyal may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pennyroyal 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 can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin is an average 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 pennyroyal in the event of 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.