When to Plant Elephant Ears in Oak Lawn, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant elephant ears in Oak Lawn should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


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 it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed 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 Oak Lawn 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 really do well. If you are starting your elephant ears indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Oak Lawn the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Oak Lawn and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Oak Lawn you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your elephant ears in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Lawn

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 Oak Lawn

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