When to Plant Purple Coneflower in Middlesex, NJ

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

The USDA zone info for Middlesex should be used to figure out when it's possible to plant purple coneflower.


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 tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant purple coneflower
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant purple coneflower
Probably not a good time to plant purple coneflower

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Middlesex 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. Any later than that and your purple coneflower may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your purple coneflower indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Middlesex the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Middlesex and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Middlesex you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your purple coneflower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Middlesex

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Middlesex

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