One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The first chance to plant astilbe in Ishpeming should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

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.

You can plant astilbe just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Ishpeming is April. However, you really should wait until May 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your astilbe may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your astilbe indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Ishpeming. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Ishpeming may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ishpeming there is a last frost after May 15 so always be ready to protect your astilbe if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ishpeming

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ishpeming

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