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

A common way of estimating when you can plant astilbe is to examine the USDA zone info for Fairmont.

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 a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Fairmont 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. Starting your astilbe indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Fairmont. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Fairmont 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 Fairmont you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your astilbe if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fairmont

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairmont

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