One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Zone 11b should be reffered to in order to determine when to plant echinacea.

Planting Calendar for Echinacea

Frost tolerance for echinacea:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Echinacea are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Zone 11b is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant echinacea and expect a good harvest is probably November. If you wait any later than that and your echinacea may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your echinacea indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 11b it never frosts. You should expect an average low temperature of 45°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 11b may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since it never frosts in Zone 11b you do not have to be ready to cover your echinacea in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 11b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 11b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	45°F
Highest Expected Low	50°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 45°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 50°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 11b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 11b.