One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 determine when it's a good idea to plant elephant ears in Monticello 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Since elephant ears are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Monticello 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. Any later than that and 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 Monticello. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Monticello is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Monticello it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your elephant ears if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Monticello

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 Monticello

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