One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Helena you will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant bleeding hearts.

Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

Frost tolerance for bleeding hearts:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Bleeding Hearts do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Helena 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 bleeding hearts and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your bleeding hearts indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Helena 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 Helena is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Helena it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your bleeding hearts in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Helena

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 Helena

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