When to Plant Elephant Ears in Harrisburg, NC

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 Harrisburg should be determined 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 all chance of frost has passed.

Elephant Ears require warm weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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 Harrisburg 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. Any later than that and 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

In Harrisburg the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Harrisburg is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Harrisburg it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your elephant ears if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harrisburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Harrisburg

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