One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You should be able to determine when it's possible to plant asters by looking at the USDA zone info for Fairbanks.

Planting Calendar for Asters

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

Asters do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Fairbanks 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 asters and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your asters may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your asters indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Fairbanks. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -50°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Fairbanks is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Fairbanks there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your asters if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fairbanks

Here is the info for USDA Zone 2a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	August 15
Lowest Expected Low	-50°F
Highest Expected Low	-45°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -45°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairbanks

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