When to Plant Hardy Asters in Oakland, CA

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 referring to the USDA zone info for Oakland it's possible to determine when it's the best time 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.

Hardy Asters are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant hardy asters
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant hardy asters
Probably not a good time to plant hardy asters

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Oakland 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 hardy asters and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your hardy asters may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hardy asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Oakland the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Oakland may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Oakland you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your hardy asters in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oakland

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 Low30°F
Highest Expected Low35°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 Oakland

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