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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant elephant ears is to check out the USDA zone info for Bakersfield.

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.

You should not plant elephant ears until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Bakersfield is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. Any later than that and your elephant ears may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your elephant ears indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Bakersfield. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bakersfield and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Bakersfield there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your elephant ears in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bakersfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Bakersfield

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