One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in San Rafael can be figured out 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.

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

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in San Rafael 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. Any later than that and 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in San Rafael. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Rafael and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in San Rafael there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your elephant ears if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for San Rafael

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in San Rafael

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Rafael.