One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Knightdale you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant echinacea 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 do well in very little cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Knightdale 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 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Knightdale. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Knightdale and it is different every year. Half of the time in Knightdale last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your echinacea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Knightdale

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 Knightdale

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