One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Dumfries should be read to estimate when to plant asters.

Planting Calendar for Asters

Frost tolerance for asters:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Asters do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Dumfries 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 asters and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your asters may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your asters indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Dumfries. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dumfries is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Dumfries you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your asters in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dumfries

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Dumfries

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