Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Mission should be read to figure out when it's a good idea to plant heliotrope.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

You really shouldn't plant heliotrope until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Mission 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 really do well. If you are starting your heliotrope indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Mission is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Mission you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mission

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 Mission

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