One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Long Beach can be read to figure out when to plant heliotrope.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

It's a bad 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 Long Beach 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Long Beach. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Long Beach is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Long Beach it frosts late in the year after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your heliotrope if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Long Beach

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 Long Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Long Beach.