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When to Plant Elephant Ears in International Falls, MN

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first chance to plant elephant ears in International Falls can be figured out by looking at 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 when the weather gets warmer.

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

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 International Falls is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. Starting your elephant ears indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in International Falls. You should expect an average low temperature of -40°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for International Falls is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in International Falls you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your elephant ears in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for International Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-40°F
Highest Expected Low-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in International Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for International Falls.