One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of making a decision about when you can plant elephant ears is to look at the USDA zone info for Longmont.

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 means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Longmont 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. If you are starting your elephant ears indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Longmont the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Longmont may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Longmont there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your elephant ears in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Longmont

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Longmont

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