One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 referring to the USDA zone info for Smithfield it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea 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.

Purple Coneflower do ok in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Smithfield 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 little bit earlier by starting your purple coneflower indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Smithfield the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Smithfield is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Smithfield it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your purple coneflower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Smithfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Smithfield

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