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 estimate when it's a good idea to plant heliotrope by looking at the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

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 require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in West Chicago 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 few weeks earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in West Chicago. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for West Chicago is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in West Chicago you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your heliotrope if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Chicago

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 West Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Chicago.