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.

It's possible to estimate when to plant salsify by checking out the USDA zone info for Helena.

Planting Calendar for Salsify

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

Salsify can survive in a tiny bit of 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 salsify 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 salsify and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your salsify may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your salsify indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Helena the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Helena is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Helena you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your salsify if you have 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.