One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

One way of estimating when you can plant hardy asters is to check out the USDA zone info for Flossmoor.

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 plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Flossmoor 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. If you wait any later than that and your hardy asters may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your hardy asters indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Flossmoor is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Flossmoor you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hardy asters in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Flossmoor

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 Flossmoor

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