One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 earliest that you can plant astilbe in Franklin can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Astilbe

Frost tolerance for astilbe:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Astilbe are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Franklin 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 astilbe and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your astilbe may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your astilbe indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Franklin the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Franklin is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Franklin you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your astilbe in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Franklin

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