Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Alamogordo you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant echinacea by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Alamogordo. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alamogordo is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Alamogordo it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your echinacea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alamogordo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Alamogordo

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