One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The first opportunity to plant purple coneflower in Baton Rouge should be figured out by using 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Baton Rouge 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Baton Rouge. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Baton Rouge 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 Baton Rouge it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to protect your purple coneflower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Baton Rouge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Baton Rouge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Baton Rouge.