One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Maricopa you will be able to figure out when 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.

Since hardy asters are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Maricopa 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hardy asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Maricopa. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Maricopa is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Maricopa there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hardy asters in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Maricopa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Maricopa

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