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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant elephant ears is to examine the USDA zone info for Thief River Falls.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

Frost tolerance for elephant ears:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since elephant ears require warm weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In Thief River Falls the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Thief River Falls is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Thief River Falls you get a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your elephant ears in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Thief River Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Thief River Falls

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