One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant echinacea is to examine the USDA zone info for Encinitas.

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.

You can plant echinacea just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Encinitas is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant echinacea and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your echinacea may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your echinacea indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Encinitas. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Encinitas and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Encinitas there is a last frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your echinacea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Encinitas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Encinitas

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