One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A common way of figuring out when to plant heliotrope is to look at the USDA zone info for Aberdeen.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

It's a bad idea to plant heliotrope until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Aberdeen 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. If you wait 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Aberdeen. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Aberdeen may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Aberdeen there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your heliotrope if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Aberdeen

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 Aberdeen

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