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

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant helianthemum is to look at the USDA zone info for Shenandoah.

Planting Calendar for Helianthemum

Frost tolerance for helianthemum:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant helianthemum a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant helianthemum in Shenandoah is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant helianthemum and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your helianthemum may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your helianthemum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Shenandoah the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Shenandoah and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Shenandoah last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your helianthemum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shenandoah

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Shenandoah

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