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

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant elephant ears by looking at the USDA zone info for Mattoon.

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.

It's probably not a good idea to plant elephant ears until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Mattoon 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. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mattoon. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mattoon is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mattoon there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your elephant ears if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mattoon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mattoon

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