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

The USDA zone info for Ephrata can be reviewed to estimate when you can plant heliotrope.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant heliotrope until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Ephrata 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 really do well. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ephrata. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ephrata and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ephrata you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your heliotrope in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ephrata

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Ephrata

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