One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant elephant ears is to examine the USDA zone info for Sheffield.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

Frost tolerance for elephant ears:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant elephant ears until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Sheffield 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 elephant ears and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your elephant ears may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your elephant ears indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Sheffield. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sheffield and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Sheffield last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your elephant ears if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sheffield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Sheffield

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