One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant hardy asters in Salinas by looking at the USDA zone info.

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.

You can plant hardy asters a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Salinas 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. Any later than that and your hardy asters may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your hardy asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Salinas. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Salinas is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Salinas last frost occurs after February 15 so always be ready to protect your hardy asters if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salinas

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 Salinas

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