One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant asparagus is to check out the USDA zone info for Shenandoah.

Planting Calendar for Asparagus

Frost tolerance for asparagus:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since asparagus do well in cold you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant asparagus in Shenandoah 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 asparagus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your asparagus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your asparagus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Shenandoah. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Shenandoah and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Shenandoah you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your asparagus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shenandoah

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Shenandoah

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