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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Charleston you will be able to estimate when you can plant cardinal flower.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

Frost tolerance for cardinal flower:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's not a good idea to plant cardinal flower until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Charleston is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cardinal flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Charleston. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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