One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 to plant heliotrope by looking at the USDA zone info for Ashdown.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

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

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Ashdown 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. If you are starting your heliotrope indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Ashdown. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ashdown is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ashdown last frost occurs after March 15 so always be ready to cover your heliotrope if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ashdown

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 Ashdown

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