The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Zone 7a you should be able to determine when it's the best time 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 plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant purple coneflower in Zone 7a 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 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

In Zone 7a the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 7a may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Zone 7a last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your purple coneflower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 7a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 7a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 7a.