One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 chance to plant asters in Houghton can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Asters

Frost tolerance for asters:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Asters are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Houghton is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant asters and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your asters may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your asters indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Houghton is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Houghton last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your asters in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Houghton

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 Houghton

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