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 Apache Junction can be looked at to estimate when you can plant purple coneflower.

Planting Calendar for Purple Coneflower

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

Purple Coneflower do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Apache Junction 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 purple coneflower and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your purple coneflower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your purple coneflower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Apache Junction is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Apache Junction it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your purple coneflower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Apache Junction

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 Apache Junction

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Apache Junction.