Echinacea is a perennial medicinal herb, long valued for its traditional uses. It's hardy across USDA zones 3 through 8, stands up to deer and handles dry spells once it's established. Its early summer flowers are a real draw for honeybees, native bees, and butterflies.
Echinacea — the short answer
Echinacea: grown in zones 3–8, full sun, pH 5.5–8, about 120 days to maturity.
- USDA zones
- 3–8
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Soil pH
- 5.5–8
- FAO ECOCROP
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Growable Ground Plant Database
- Days to Maturity
- 120 days
- PrairieMoon; USDA-NRCS
- Frost-kill temperature
- 32°F
- FAO ECOCROP
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
Score Echinacea on your exact land.
Zone averages can't see the slope, soil, frost, and sun that decide whether echinacea actually takes — and those shift from one yard to the next. Enter your address and we'll score echinacea against your land's real conditions.
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What Echinacea is
Echinacea grows as a perennial and reaches around three feet at maturity. It blooms purple in early summer. It's also deer-resistant.
How to grow Echinacea
Echinacea grows in USDA zones 3 through 8 and is ready to harvest about 120 days after planting. Echinacea does best in full sun — at least 6 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 5.5 to 8, on well-drained ground. It needs around 2,200 growing degree days to mature, which is why climate matters as much as soil.
USDA Zones
3-8
USDA PHZM 2023
Soil pH
5.5 - 8
FAO ECOCROP
Sun
Full Sun
Growable Ground plant catalog
Drainage
well (dry spells)
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost Kill Temperature
32°F
Where cold starts killing growing tissue. Not a winter-survival floor — a dormant perennial takes far colder, which its hardiness zone answers.
FAO ECOCROP
Minimum Growing Temperature
50°F
Below this it stops growing rather than dies — a pace limit, not a survival limit.
FAO ECOCROP
Days to Maturity
120 days
Purple coneflower; cold strat 30-60d.
PrairieMoon; USDA-NRCS
GDD Required
2200+
Growing degree-days of accumulated warmth it needs to mature — humid summers reach this faster than cool coastal ones.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Mature Height
3 ft
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost-Free Days
0+
The frost-free stretch it needs start to finish — short-season areas may need an indoor head start.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Start the season right
Plant echinacea in full sun with at least 6 hours of direct sun, once the soil has warmed and frost risk has passed.
Match the soil
Echinacea prefers pH 5.5 to 8 (FAO ECOCROP). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band.
Water steadily
Keep the root zone evenly moist through establishment. A 2–3 inch mulch layer holds moisture without waterlogging.
Harvest at its peak
Harvest the part you grow echinacea for — flower, leaf, or root — at its seasonal peak.
Where Echinacea thrives
Echinacea is hardy across USDA zones 3 through 8. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 3–8 spans average winter lows from -40°F to 20°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers 34 outright and splits 17 more down the middle — and which side of that line your land sits on changes the answer.
Zones 3–8·Where Echinacea growsOpen map →
Where Echinacea stands, state by state
Echinacea is rated for zones 3–8 — a cold floor USDA puts at -40 to -30°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 34 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 17 more, and 0 sit outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
Fully inside zones 3–8
34 states
3 of 34 shown
The line runs through
17 states
- Alaska · zones 1a-9a
- California · zones 4b-11a
- Nevada · zones 4a-10a
3 of 17 shown
Echinacea’s band covers part of each of these states — which side of the line your county sits on changes the answer, and each state page draws it.
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around Echinacea
Growing guides for echinacea
In rotation planning, echinacea counts as a Other — beds recover best when other crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Good to know
Good news for pet owners — echinacea isn't known to be toxic to dogs or cats. (Source: ASPCA.)
Echinacea is a standout pollinator plant — high value to bees and other pollinators. (Source: Xerces Society.)
Before you harvest echinacea, know your soil
Anything you grow to eat takes up what's in the ground it grows in, so it's worth knowing what's documented near you before you plant echinacea for food. Our free screen reads 9 federal source types across roughly 1.8M indexed sites and shows which sit near your address and which way they drain. It's a screening estimate from public records and proximity — not a soil test — so a nearby record means a soil test is worth it, not that your soil is unsafe.
Your land is one point inside Echinacea's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if Echinacea will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your exact soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether echinacea actually takes — we score it against the real conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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How we know this about Echinacea
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database•USDA PHZM•ASPCA
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow Echinacea in my zone?
Echinacea grows in USDA hardiness zones 3 through 8 (USDA PHZM 2023). Zone is one factor — soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
How long does Echinacea take to grow?
Echinacea is ready to harvest about 120 days after planting (PrairieMoon; USDA-NRCS). Your local frost dates and soil temperature move that window earlier or later.
When should you plant Echinacea?
Most growers plant echinacea after the last spring frost, once the soil has warmed. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does Echinacea need?
Echinacea needs full sun — a spot that catches at least 6 hours of direct summer sun a day. In more shade it still grows, but usually gives a smaller, later crop. The catch is that a yard rarely gets even light everywhere — a fence, the house, or one tall tree can quietly take those hours. A Growable Ground report reads the real sun-hours across your land, canopy and buildings included, so you can pick the brightest bed before you plant.
What soil does Echinacea need?
Echinacea prefers soil pH 5.5 to 8, on well-drained ground (FAO ECOCROP). Your report scores your parcel's actual soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does Echinacea attract pollinators?
Yes — echinacea's flowers are a strong nectar and pollen source for honeybees, native bees, and butterflies. (Source: Xerces Society.)
Is Echinacea safe for pets?
Echinacea is not known to be toxic to dogs or cats based on available data. Always supervise pets around new plantings. (Source: ASPCA.)