One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when to plant elephant ears in Lancaster by checking out 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.

You should not plant elephant ears until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Lancaster 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your elephant ears indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lancaster the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Lancaster is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lancaster you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your elephant ears if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

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 Lancaster

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