When to Plant Asters in Waltham, MA

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

It's a good idea to figure out when to plant asters by using the USDA zone info for Waltham.


Planting Calendar for Asters

Frost tolerance for asters: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since asters are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant asters in Waltham is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant asters and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your asters may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your asters indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Waltham. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Waltham is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Waltham you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your asters in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waltham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Waltham

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