Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Bay City you can figure out when it's the best time to plant hardy asters by reviewing 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.

You can plant hardy asters just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Bay City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Bay City is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Bay City you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your hardy asters in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bay City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Bay City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Bay City.