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.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant astilbe is to use the USDA zone info for Baxter.

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.

Astilbe do ok in very little cold which tells us that 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 Baxter 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. Any later than that and your astilbe may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your astilbe indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Baxter. You can expect an average low temperature of -35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Baxter is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Baxter you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so always be ready to cover your astilbe if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Baxter

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Baxter

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