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.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Fort Meade should be estimated by looking at 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.

You can plant astilbe a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Fort Meade 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 astilbe and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your astilbe may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your astilbe indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Fort Meade the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Meade is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Fort Meade it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to cover your astilbe if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Meade

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 Fort Meade

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Meade.