Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Manhattan you can determine when it's a good idea to plant purple coneflower by checking out 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.

You can plant purple coneflower a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Manhattan 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Manhattan. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Manhattan is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Manhattan there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your purple coneflower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manhattan

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 Manhattan

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