One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The first opportunity to plant heliotrope in Columbia should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

Frost tolerance for heliotrope:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant heliotrope until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Columbia 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Columbia. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Columbia is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Columbia last frost occurs after March 15 so always be ready to cover your heliotrope in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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