One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant elephant ears is to examine the USDA zone info for Dodgeville.

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.

You can not 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 Dodgeville 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. Starting your elephant ears indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Dodgeville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Dodgeville is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dodgeville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your elephant ears in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dodgeville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Dodgeville

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