One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Lafayette you can determine when it's possible 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 has passed.

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

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Lafayette is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant heliotrope and expect a good harvest is probably September. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Lafayette. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lafayette is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lafayette you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your heliotrope if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lafayette

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Lafayette

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