One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant astilbe is to use the USDA zone info for Millersville.

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.

Astilbe do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Millersville 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. If you wait any later than that and your astilbe may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your astilbe indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Millersville may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Millersville you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your astilbe if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Millersville

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 Millersville

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