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.

A way of determining when to plant asters is to use the USDA zone info for Placerville.

Planting Calendar for Asters

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

Since asters are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Placerville 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. If you wait any later than that and your asters may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your asters indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Placerville. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Placerville is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Placerville you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your asters in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Placerville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Placerville

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