When to Plant Purple Coneflower in Albany, NY

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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Albany you should be able to estimate when it's the best time 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.

You can plant purple coneflower a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

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 Albany 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your purple coneflower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Albany. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Albany may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Albany last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your purple coneflower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Albany

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Albany

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