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 looking at the USDA zone info for Hillsborough you will be able to estimate when you can plant elephant ears.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

Frost tolerance for elephant ears:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant elephant ears until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Hillsborough 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. If you wait 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Hillsborough. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

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 Hillsborough and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Hillsborough you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your elephant ears if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hillsborough

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 Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 Hillsborough

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