The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when you can plant elephant ears is to examine the USDA zone info for Red Oak.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

Since elephant ears do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Red Oak 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your elephant ears may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your elephant ears indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Red Oak is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Red Oak last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your elephant ears if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Red Oak

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Red Oak

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Red Oak.