One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant asters is to check out the USDA zone info for Reading.

Planting Calendar for Asters

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

Since asters are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Reading 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 really do well. Starting your asters indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Reading. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Reading and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Reading last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your asters if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Reading

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 Reading

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