One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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 first chance to plant purple coneflower in Lake in the Hills can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

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 can survive in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Lake in the Hills 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your purple coneflower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Lake in the Hills. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake in the Hills and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake in the Hills it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your purple coneflower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake in the Hills

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 Lake in the Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake in the Hills.