One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

You can figure out when you can plant heliotrope in Sanibel by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Since heliotrope are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Sanibel 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 heliotrope and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your heliotrope may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Sanibel the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sanibel and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sanibel you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your heliotrope if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sanibel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Sanibel

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