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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Herkimer it's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant echinacea.

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.

Since echinacea do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Herkimer 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 fully mature. Starting your echinacea indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Herkimer and it is different every year. Half of the time in Herkimer you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your echinacea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Herkimer

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Herkimer

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