The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant astilbe by looking at the USDA zone info for Winchester.

Planting Calendar for Astilbe

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

Since astilbe are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant astilbe in Winchester 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 astilbe and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your astilbe may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your astilbe indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Winchester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Winchester is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Winchester last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your astilbe in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Winchester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Winchester

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