Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant hardy asters is to look at the USDA zone info for Forest Park.

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.

Since hardy asters do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Forest Park 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 hardy asters and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hardy asters may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your hardy asters indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Forest Park. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Forest Park and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Forest Park you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your hardy asters if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Forest Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Forest Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Forest Park.