Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Richmond you can determine when you can plant elephant ears 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.

Elephant Ears require warm weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Richmond 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. Starting your elephant ears indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Richmond. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Richmond 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 Richmond you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your elephant ears in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

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 Richmond

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