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.

By using the USDA zone info for Aurora it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant astilbe.

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 can survive in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Aurora 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your astilbe may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your astilbe indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Aurora the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Aurora and it is different every year. Half of the time in Aurora it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your astilbe if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Aurora

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Aurora

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