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.

A way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant heliotrope is to examine the USDA zone info for Fairbanks.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

Frost tolerance for heliotrope:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant heliotrope until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Fairbanks is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. Any later than that and your heliotrope may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Fairbanks the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -50°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fairbanks is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Fairbanks there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fairbanks

Here is the info for USDA Zone 2a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	August 15
Lowest Expected Low	-50°F
Highest Expected Low	-45°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -45°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairbanks

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