When to Plant Elephant Ears in Addison, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 USDA zone info for Addison can be reviewed to estimate when you can plant elephant ears.


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.

Since elephant ears require warm weather you must 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 Addison 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your elephant ears indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Addison the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Addison and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Addison last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your elephant ears if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Addison

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 Addison

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