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.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant heliotrope is to refer to the USDA zone info for Blue Island.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

It's not a good idea to plant heliotrope until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Blue Island 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. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Blue Island. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Blue Island is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Blue Island you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Blue Island

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Blue Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Blue Island.