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.

The USDA zone info for Victoria should be used to estimate when it's possible 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 because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Victoria is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 grow to maturity. 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

In Victoria the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Victoria is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Victoria there is a last frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your heliotrope in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Victoria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Victoria

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