The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Alabaster should be looked at to figure out when it's a good idea to plant hardy asters.

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.

You can plant hardy asters just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Alabaster 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. Any later than that and your hardy asters may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your hardy asters indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Alabaster the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Alabaster is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Alabaster you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your hardy asters if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alabaster

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Alabaster

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