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

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Helena it's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant achillea.

Planting Calendar for Achillea

Frost tolerance for achillea:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Achillea do well in cold which means that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant achillea in Helena is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

In Helena the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Helena is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Helena it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your achillea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Helena

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Helena

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