One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 New Albany you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant heliotrope by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

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 New Albany 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. Any later than that and your heliotrope may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your heliotrope indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in New Albany. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for New Albany is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in New Albany you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your heliotrope if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Albany

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in New Albany

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Albany.