When to Plant Purple Coneflower in Shenandoah, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant purple coneflower in Shenandoah can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.


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 are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle 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 Shenandoah 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 really do well. Starting your purple coneflower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Shenandoah the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Shenandoah and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Shenandoah there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your purple coneflower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Shenandoah

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 Shenandoah

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