The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out 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.

In Westminster you can determine when you can plant echinacea by looking at 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 tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Westminster 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. If you are starting your echinacea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Westminster. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Westminster is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Westminster it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your echinacea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Westminster

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 Westminster

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