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.

You should be able to estimate when to plant echinacea by referring to the USDA zone info for Smyrna.

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.

Since echinacea are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Smyrna 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. If you are starting your echinacea 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 Smyrna. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Smyrna is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Smyrna there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your echinacea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smyrna

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 Smyrna

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