One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In El Campo you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant heliotrope by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Since heliotrope require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in El Campo is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant heliotrope and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your heliotrope may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your heliotrope indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in El Campo. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for El Campo is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in El Campo it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Campo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in El Campo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Campo.