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.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant hardy asters is to look at the USDA zone info for Methuen.

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 more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Methuen 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. Any later than that and your hardy asters may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your hardy asters indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Methuen. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Methuen may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Methuen last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your hardy asters in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Methuen

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 Methuen

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