One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Nogales should be looked at to determine when you can plant elephant ears.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

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

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Nogales 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your elephant ears may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your elephant ears indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Nogales. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Nogales is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Nogales you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your elephant ears in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Nogales

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Nogales

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