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.

One way of figuring out when you can plant heliotrope is to look at the USDA zone info for New Orleans.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

It's a bad idea to plant heliotrope until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in New Orleans is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant heliotrope and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your heliotrope may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your heliotrope indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in New Orleans. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for New Orleans is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in New Orleans it frosts late in the year after February 15 so always be ready to protect your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Orleans

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in New Orleans

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Orleans.