One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Elgin it's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant radicchio.

Planting Calendar for Radicchio

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

Radicchio are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant radicchio 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 radicchio and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your radicchio may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your radicchio indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on 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 will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elgin it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to cover your radicchio 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.