The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Bend you can estimate when it's the best time to 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 are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Bend 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your asters may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Bend the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bend is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Bend there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your asters if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bend

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Bend

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