One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant asparagus is to look at the USDA zone info for Hornell.

Planting Calendar for Asparagus

Frost tolerance for asparagus:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Asparagus do well in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant asparagus in Hornell 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 asparagus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your asparagus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your asparagus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Hornell is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Hornell there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your asparagus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hornell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Hornell

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