Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant heliotrope by referring to the USDA zone info for Rensselaer.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

Frost tolerance for heliotrope:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since heliotrope do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Rensselaer 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your heliotrope may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Rensselaer. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rensselaer may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rensselaer you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rensselaer

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Rensselaer

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