One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You can estimate when it's possible to plant astilbe in Ridgecrest by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 can survive in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Ridgecrest 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 astilbe and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your astilbe may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your astilbe indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Ridgecrest. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ridgecrest and it is different every year. Half of the time in Ridgecrest last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your astilbe if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgecrest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ridgecrest

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