Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant heliotrope in Charlottesville should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Since heliotrope are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Charlottesville 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. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Charlottesville. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charlottesville may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Charlottesville there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your heliotrope if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charlottesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Charlottesville

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