One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant astilbe is to look at the USDA zone info for Lovington.

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.

Since astilbe do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Lovington 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your astilbe indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lovington. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lovington is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lovington it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your astilbe if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lovington

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 Lovington

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