One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 first opportunity to plant astilbe in West Monroe should be figured out by using 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.

Since astilbe 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 astilbe in West Monroe 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 astilbe and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your astilbe may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your astilbe indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in West Monroe. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Monroe and it is different every year. Half of the time in West Monroe last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your astilbe if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Monroe

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in West Monroe

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Monroe.