One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Bay City you can determine when to plant hardy asters by looking at the USDA zone info.

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.

You can plant hardy asters slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Bay City 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your hardy asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bay City. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Bay City 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 Bay City there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your hardy asters if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bay City

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 Bay City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bay City.