One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant purple coneflower by referring to the USDA zone info for Willmar.

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 just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Willmar 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 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your purple coneflower indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Willmar the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Willmar is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Willmar there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your purple coneflower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Willmar

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 Willmar

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