When to Plant Hardy Asters in Iowa City, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Iowa City can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

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Planting Calendar for Hardy Asters

Frost tolerance for hardy asters: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Hardy Asters tend to make it in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant hardy asters
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant hardy asters
Probably not a good time to plant hardy asters

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Iowa City 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 hardy asters and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your hardy asters may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your hardy asters indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Iowa City. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Iowa City may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Iowa City last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your hardy asters in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Iowa City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Iowa City.