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When to Plant Elephant Ears in Franklin Lakes, NJ

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when you can plant elephant ears by referring to the USDA zone info for Franklin Lakes.


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.

It's probably not a good idea to plant elephant ears until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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 Franklin Lakes 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 really do well. Starting your elephant ears indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Franklin Lakes. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Franklin Lakes and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Franklin Lakes it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your elephant ears if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin Lakes

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Franklin Lakes

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Franklin Lakes.