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.

You will be able to determine when you can plant echinacea by reviewing the USDA zone info for Fairfield.

Planting Calendar for Echinacea

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

Echinacea do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Fairfield 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 echinacea and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your echinacea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your echinacea indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Fairfield the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Fairfield is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Fairfield you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your echinacea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairfield

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