One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 Gettysburg should be used to determine when it's possible to plant heliotrope.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

You should not plant heliotrope until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Gettysburg 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 fully mature. Starting your heliotrope indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Gettysburg the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gettysburg may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Gettysburg there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gettysburg

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 Gettysburg

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