One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of figuring out when you can plant cardinal flower is to examine the USDA zone info for Streamwood.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

Frost tolerance for cardinal flower:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Cardinal Flower require warm weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Streamwood 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 grow to maturity. Starting your cardinal flower indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Streamwood. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Streamwood and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Streamwood you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cardinal flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Streamwood

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 Streamwood

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