One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant astilbe is to refer to the USDA zone info for Sanford.

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 tend to make it in very little cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Sanford 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 really do well. If you are starting your astilbe indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Sanford is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Sanford there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your astilbe if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sanford

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 Sanford

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