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.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant eggplants is to consult the USDA zone info for Helena.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

You can not plant eggplants until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Helena 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 eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your eggplants indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Helena. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Helena and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Helena there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your eggplants if you have a late frost.

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.