When to Plant Asparagus in State College, PA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for State College can be looked at to determine when it's the best time to plant asparagus.


Planting Calendar for Asparagus

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

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

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

The earliest that you can plant asparagus in State College 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 fully mature. If you are starting your asparagus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In State College the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for State College is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in State College there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your asparagus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for State College

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 Low0°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 State College

You may be interested in your other planting guides for State College.