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

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant elephant ears by checking out the USDA zone info for Sarasota.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

Frost tolerance for elephant ears:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Elephant Ears do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Sarasota 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. If you wait any later than that and your elephant ears may not have a chance to really do well. 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

In Sarasota the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sarasota is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Sarasota it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your elephant ears if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sarasota

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Sarasota

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