The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when to plant nigella is to consult the USDA zone info for Elkins.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

Frost tolerance for nigella:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Nigella do ok in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Elkins. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Elkins is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Elkins there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your nigella in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elkins

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Elkins

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Elkins.