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.

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant echinacea is to use the USDA zone info for Sheffield.

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 well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Sheffield 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your echinacea indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Sheffield. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sheffield and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Sheffield there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your echinacea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sheffield

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 Sheffield

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