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

It's possible to figure out when to plant elephant ears by checking out the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo.

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 when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Lake Elmo 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 fully mature. Starting your elephant ears indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Lake Elmo. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always 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 Lake Elmo and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Elmo you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your elephant ears if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Elmo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Elmo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Elmo.