Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Newport you should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant elephant ears.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant elephant ears until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Newport 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. If you wait any later than that and your elephant ears may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your elephant ears indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Newport. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Newport may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Newport you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your elephant ears if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newport

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 Newport

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