One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant okra in Helena by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Okra

Frost tolerance for okra:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since okra require warm weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra 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 okra and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your okra may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your okra indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Helena is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Helena you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your okra in the event of a surprise 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.