Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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.

You can determine when it's possible to plant perilla in Elgin by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant perilla until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant perilla 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your perilla indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of 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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Elgin it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your perilla 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.