One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant elephant ears is to look at the USDA zone info for Fort Myers.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

Elephant Ears require warm weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Fort Myers 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. If you wait any later than that and your elephant ears may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your elephant ears indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Fort Myers is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Myers you get a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your elephant ears in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Myers

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 Fort Myers

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Myers.