One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant purple coneflower by using the USDA zone info for Shippensburg.

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.

Purple Coneflower do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Shippensburg 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Shippensburg. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Shippensburg is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Shippensburg last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your purple coneflower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Shippensburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Shippensburg

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