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

In Lancaster you can determine when it's a good idea to plant heliotrope by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

You should not plant heliotrope until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Lancaster 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lancaster the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lancaster is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lancaster last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Lancaster

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