One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

It's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant asters by checking out the USDA zone info for Douglas.

Planting Calendar for Asters

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

Since asters are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant asters in Douglas 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 asters and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your asters may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your asters indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Douglas. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Douglas is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Douglas last frost occurs after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your asters if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Douglas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Douglas

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