One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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 USDA zone info for Council Bluffs can be reffered to in order to determine when it's possible to plant hardy asters.

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 a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Council Bluffs 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. Any later than that and your hardy asters may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your hardy asters indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Council Bluffs. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Council Bluffs is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Council Bluffs you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hardy asters in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Council Bluffs

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Council Bluffs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Council Bluffs.