One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Helena you can figure out when you can plant firebush by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

Frost tolerance for firebush:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You can not plant firebush until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Helena. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Helena is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Helena you get a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your firebush in the event of 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.