When to Plant Heliotrope in Charleston, IL

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

By checking out the USDA zone info for Charleston you should be able to estimate when you can plant heliotrope.

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Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Heliotrope are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant heliotrope
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant heliotrope
Probably not a good time to plant heliotrope

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Charleston 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 heliotrope and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your heliotrope may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Charleston the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Charleston is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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