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.

In Hales Corners you can estimate when it's the best time to plant purple coneflower by referring to 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.

Purple Coneflower do well in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Hales Corners 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hales Corners. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Hales Corners is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Hales Corners there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your purple coneflower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hales Corners

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hales Corners

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hales Corners.