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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Big Stone Gap it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant purple coneflower.

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 slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Big Stone Gap 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. If you are starting your purple coneflower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Big Stone Gap. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Big Stone Gap is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Big Stone Gap you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your purple coneflower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Big Stone Gap

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 Big Stone Gap

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Stone Gap.