The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Bloomington you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant asters by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Asters

Frost tolerance for asters:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant asters a little earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Bloomington 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 asters and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your asters may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your asters indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Bloomington. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bloomington is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Bloomington it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your asters if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bloomington

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 Bloomington

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