One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You can determine when to plant asters in Ionia by checking out 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 can survive in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Ionia 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Ionia. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Ionia is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ionia you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your asters in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ionia

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 Ionia

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