One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 Richland should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

It's not a good idea to plant heliotrope until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Richland 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 April 15 in Richland. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Richland is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Richland last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richland

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 Richland

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