Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Oil City can be reffered to in order to determine when to plant heliotrope.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Heliotrope do not do well in cold weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Oil City 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 grow to maturity. Starting your heliotrope indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Oil City. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Oil City is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Oil City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your heliotrope if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oil City

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 Oil City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oil City.