One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for El Dorado it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant banana.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant banana until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant banana in El Dorado 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your banana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your banana indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In El Dorado the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for El Dorado is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in El Dorado you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your banana in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Dorado

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in El Dorado

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Dorado.