One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Elgin you can determine when it's possible to plant thunbergia by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Thunbergia

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

You really shouldn't plant thunbergia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant thunbergia 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 thunbergia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your thunbergia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your thunbergia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Elgin the average date of last frost happens on March 15. 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 will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elgin you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your thunbergia if you have 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.