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

The first opportunity to plant echinacea in Ishpeming should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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.

Echinacea can survive in mild cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Ishpeming is April. However, you really should wait until May 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. Starting your echinacea indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Ishpeming. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ishpeming is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ishpeming you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your echinacea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ishpeming

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Ishpeming

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