One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant heliotrope is to examine the USDA zone info for Aiken.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Heliotrope are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Aiken 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Aiken is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Aiken there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Aiken

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Aiken

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