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

You should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant heliotrope by referring to the USDA zone info for Bellingham.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

It's a bad idea to plant heliotrope until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Bellingham 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 grow to maturity. Starting your heliotrope indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Bellingham. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Bellingham is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Bellingham you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bellingham

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 Bellingham

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