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

You can estimate when it's possible to plant heliotrope in Zone 8b by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Heliotrope

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

Heliotrope require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant heliotrope in Zone 8b 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your heliotrope indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Zone 8b. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 8b is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 8b you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your heliotrope in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 8b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 8b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 8b.