One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first chance to plant echinacea in Bellefontaine can be estimated by referring to 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.

You can plant echinacea slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Bellefontaine 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bellefontaine. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bellefontaine and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Bellefontaine there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your echinacea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bellefontaine

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 Bellefontaine

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