One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Skokie you can determine when to plant hardy asters by using the USDA zone info.

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.

Hardy Asters are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Skokie 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

In Skokie the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Skokie is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Skokie it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your hardy asters in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Skokie

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Skokie

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