One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant purple coneflower is to look at the USDA zone info for Mequon.

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 a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Mequon 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mequon. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Mequon may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mequon there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your purple coneflower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mequon

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 Mequon

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