One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant astilbe is to consult the USDA zone info for Newark.

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.

Astilbe do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Newark is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant astilbe and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your astilbe may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your astilbe indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Newark. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Newark and it is different every year. Half of the time in Newark you get a frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your astilbe in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newark

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Newark

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