One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 USDA zone info for Manitou Springs can be read to figure out when to plant elephant ears.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

Elephant Ears require warm weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Manitou Springs 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your elephant ears indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Manitou Springs. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Manitou Springs is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Manitou Springs it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your elephant ears in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manitou Springs

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 Manitou Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Manitou Springs.