When to Plant Astilbe in Somerville, MA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when you can plant astilbe by checking out the USDA zone info for Somerville.


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 do well in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant astilbe
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant astilbe
Probably not a good time to plant astilbe

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Somerville 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. If you wait any later than that and your astilbe may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your astilbe indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Somerville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Somerville is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Somerville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your astilbe in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Somerville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Somerville

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