One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant elephant ears in Darlington by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Elephant Ears

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

You can not plant elephant ears until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant elephant ears in Darlington 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 really do well. 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 March 15 in Darlington. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Darlington is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Darlington there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your elephant ears in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Darlington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Darlington

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