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.

The best time to plant fuchsia in Helena should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Fuchsia

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

Fuchsia do not do well in cold weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant fuchsia 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 fuchsia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your fuchsia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your fuchsia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Helena. It might get as low as -25°F during 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 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 protect your fuchsia 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.