One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant elephant ears in Downey by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

Elephant Ears are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Downey is February. However, you really should wait until March 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your elephant ears may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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

In Downey the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Downey may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Downey last frost occurs after January 31 be ready to protect your elephant ears in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Downey

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Downey

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