When to Plant Heliotrope in Frankfort, IL

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 will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant heliotrope by looking at the USDA zone info for Frankfort.


Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Since heliotrope do not do well in cold weather it is important to 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 Frankfort 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 fully mature. 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 the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Frankfort. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

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 Frankfort and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Frankfort you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Frankfort

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Frankfort

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