When to Plant Elephant Ears in Jacksonville, FL

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant elephant ears in Jacksonville should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

Since elephant ears require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant elephant ears
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant elephant ears
Probably not a good time to plant elephant ears

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Jacksonville is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your elephant ears indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Jacksonville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Jacksonville may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Jacksonville last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your elephant ears in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Jacksonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low20°F
Highest Expected Low25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Jacksonville

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