When to Plant Elephant Ears in Glencoe, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Glencoe should be read to estimate when to plant elephant ears.


Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant elephant ears until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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 Glencoe 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 few weeks earlier by starting your elephant ears indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Glencoe. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Glencoe and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Glencoe you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your elephant ears if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Glencoe

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 Glencoe

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