One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of determining when you can plant asters is to refer to the USDA zone info for Las Cruces.

Planting Calendar for Asters

Frost tolerance for asters:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Asters do well in some cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Las Cruces is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant asters and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your asters may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Las Cruces. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Las Cruces is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Las Cruces you get a frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your asters if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Las Cruces

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 Las Cruces

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Las Cruces.