One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant hardy asters in Sumter should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Hardy Asters

Frost tolerance for hardy asters:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Hardy Asters tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant hardy asters in Sumter 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 hardy asters and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hardy asters may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your hardy asters indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Sumter. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Sumter is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sumter last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your hardy asters in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sumter

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Sumter

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