When to Plant Asters in Punxsutawney, PA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Punxsutawney you should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant asters.


Planting Calendar for Asters

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

Asters do well in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant asters
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant asters
Probably not a good time to plant asters

The earliest that you can plant asters in Punxsutawney 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. If you wait any later than that and your asters may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Punxsutawney. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Punxsutawney is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Punxsutawney last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your asters in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Punxsutawney

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 Punxsutawney

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