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

The USDA zone info for Helena should be looked at to estimate when it's possible to plant hosta.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

Frost tolerance for hosta:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

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

The earliest that you can plant hosta 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 hosta and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your hosta may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your hosta indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Helena. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Helena is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Helena you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your hosta in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.