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

By referring to the USDA zone info for Mount Vernon you should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant elephant ears.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

It's a bad idea to plant elephant ears until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Mount Vernon 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. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mount Vernon. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mount Vernon is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Mount Vernon it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your elephant ears if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Vernon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mount Vernon

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Vernon.