Paula, I'm further south obviously, but I've had rye grass sprout as late as late November and grow just fine. It won't get as big as quickly, but it just creeps along making slow growth during cold spells and faster growth during warm spells, so I think you'll be fine from a late sowing. My advice is to go for it. I just now have rye grass (not Elbon, just regularly rye grass) sprouting in the yard, and we didn't even overseed the lawn this year, because we were in severe and extreme drought at planting time, and have been near flooding ever since. Our rye grass is sprouting from seeds left by previous seasons of overseeding. I love that we're going to have rye grass this year without even bothering to plant it.

Most grains, including Elbon rye, that are sown in fall here will go through periods of growth when the weather is warm enough, and they will sit there sort of dormant but alive when the temperatures are too cold for them. They don't die from the cold though, and they resume growth whenever temperatures allow. It is the same way with winter wheat (which finally is sprouting in some plowed/planted fields here now that rain has fallen again). As long as you can get it to germinate and begin growing in fall, it will hang in there and survive until spring, and then it will grow like mad when soil and air temperatures reach the right range again. Even as far north as you are, Elbon should grow fine even from a sowing this late, and that is doubly true since raindrops have begun falling from the skies again. As far as I know, Elbon rye (and other similar cereal type rye grasses) is the most cold-tolerant cool-season grass we have. So, while you are admittedly planting it later than what is generally recommended, I don't think it is too late to plant it and get a good stand.

I believe the best time to spread Milky Spore is in late July and in August, and that's the only time I've ever done it. In order for Milky Spore to be effective, the soil temperatures must be at least 65 degrees and the grubs must be actively feeding. At temperatures below 65 degrees and when grubs are just hibernating through the winter and not feeding, the Milky Spore disease does not kill the grubs, so there's nothing to be gained from using it in cooler weather. I've only had to apply Milky Spore once here because if you get a good colony of it going in your soil, it can last for decades.

That doesn't mean we don't have grubs, because I know we do, but we don't have so many that they attract gophers. Or, if the gophers come, our cats kill them. (I wish I could say the same thing about voles, but our vole population, which didn't become a garden problem until 2011, seems beyond what the cats even want to try to control.)

Based on how much the skunks and armadillos are digging up our front and side yards every single night since rain started falling, I cannot imagine there are any grubs left for them to find. I suppose I should be glad about that, but it is hard to look at the dug-up lawn and feel any joy. I'll be glad when the diggers have found their last grub and then have moved on to destroy someone else's yard.

Good luck with your winter rye. As long as it does germinate and grow, the roots will be there underground growing and doing their job even if it seems like the above-ground growth of the leaves is slower than expected due to a late planting. Remember that in terms of nematodes, it is the roots that matter more than the leaves because it is the roots that trap the nematodes.

Dawn