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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant asters is to refer to the USDA zone info for Lowell.

Planting Calendar for Asters

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

Asters tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Lowell 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 really do well. If you are starting your asters indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Lowell. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lowell may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lowell you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your asters in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lowell

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 Lowell

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