One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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 looked at to estimate when it's possible to plant snow-in summer.

Planting Calendar for Snow-in Summer

Frost tolerance for snow-in summer:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Snow-in Summer are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant snow-in summer 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 snow-in summer and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your snow-in summer may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your snow-in summer indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Elgin. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Elgin and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Elgin you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your snow-in summer in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.