The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Elgin it's a good idea to figure out when it's possible to plant periwinkles.

Planting Calendar for Periwinkles

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant periwinkles until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant periwinkles 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 periwinkles and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your periwinkles may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your periwinkles indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Elgin. In the coldest months of winter you should 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. Since half of the time in Elgin last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your periwinkles 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.