Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when you can plant purple coneflower by looking at the USDA zone info for Lancaster.

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.

Since purple coneflower do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Lancaster 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. If you wait any later than that and your purple coneflower may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your purple coneflower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lancaster. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Lancaster is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Lancaster it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your purple coneflower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

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 Lancaster

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