One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant hardy asters in Hammond can be estimated by checking out 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.

Since hardy asters are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather 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 Hammond 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your hardy asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hammond. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hammond and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Hammond you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your hardy asters if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hammond

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 Hammond

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