One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In Rome you can estimate when you can plant asters by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Asters

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

Asters do ok in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Rome 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Rome. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rome may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rome you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your asters if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rome

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rome

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