One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Charles Town should be estimated 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 has passed.

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

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Charles Town 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Charles Town the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Charles Town may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Charles Town last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your heliotrope if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charles Town

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Charles Town

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Charles Town.