One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You should be able to determine when it's possible to plant heliotrope by referring to the USDA zone info for Erie.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Heliotrope require warm weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Erie 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. If you wait any later than that and your heliotrope may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your heliotrope indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Erie. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Erie is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Erie there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your heliotrope if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Erie

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

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

Plants to Grow in Erie

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