When to Plant Heliotrope in Harlan, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 Harlan you will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant heliotrope.


Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Since heliotrope are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant heliotrope
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant heliotrope
Probably not a good time to plant heliotrope

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Harlan 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. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Harlan. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Harlan and it is different every year. Half of the time in Harlan it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your heliotrope in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Harlan

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Harlan

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