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

A common way of getting a good idea when you can plant astilbe is to check out the USDA zone info for Magnolia.

Planting Calendar for Astilbe

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

You can plant astilbe slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Magnolia 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 astilbe and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your astilbe may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your astilbe indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Magnolia. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Magnolia and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Magnolia you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your astilbe in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Magnolia

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 Magnolia

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