When to Plant Elephant Ears in Bedford, VA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 Bedford can be estimated by referring to 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.

Since elephant ears are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer 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 Bedford 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. If you are starting your elephant ears indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Bedford the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bedford and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Bedford you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your elephant ears if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bedford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Bedford

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