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.

In Sterling you can figure out when to plant saxifraga by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Saxifraga

Frost tolerance for saxifraga:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since saxifraga do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant saxifraga in Sterling 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 saxifraga and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your saxifraga may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your saxifraga indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Sterling. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sterling is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Sterling there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your saxifraga if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sterling

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Sterling

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