One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 best time to plant hardy asters in Apex can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Hardy Asters

Frost tolerance for hardy asters:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant hardy asters slightly earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Apex 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 hardy asters and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your hardy asters may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your hardy asters indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Apex. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Apex is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Apex last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your hardy asters if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Apex

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Apex

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