One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 Melbourne can be used to estimate when you can plant heliotrope.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Since heliotrope require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant heliotrope and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Melbourne. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Melbourne and it is different every year. Half of the time in Melbourne you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your heliotrope if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Melbourne

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Melbourne

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