One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In University Park you can figure out when you can plant purple coneflower by reviewing 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.

Since purple coneflower are barely cold tolerant 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 University Park 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. If you wait any later than that and your purple coneflower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your purple coneflower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in University Park. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for University Park is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in University Park there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your purple coneflower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for University Park

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 University Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for University Park.