One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant asters is to examine the USDA zone info for Menlo Park.

Planting Calendar for Asters

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

Since asters do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant asters and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your asters may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Menlo Park. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Menlo Park is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Menlo Park there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your asters if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Menlo Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Menlo Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Menlo Park.