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.

You will be able to estimate when to plant astilbe by using the USDA zone info for Brighton.

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 barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Brighton 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your astilbe indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Brighton. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Brighton may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Brighton there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your astilbe in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Brighton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Brighton

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