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.

The first opportunity to plant astilbe in Wilmington should be determined by reviewing 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 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 astilbe in Wilmington 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your astilbe indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Wilmington. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Wilmington may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Wilmington it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to protect your astilbe if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Wilmington

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