One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Winterville you will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant heliotrope.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Since heliotrope require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Winterville 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 heliotrope and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your heliotrope may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your heliotrope indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Winterville. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Winterville is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Winterville you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your heliotrope if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winterville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Winterville

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Winterville.