Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Monticello should be read to estimate when it's possible to plant cardinal flower.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

You really shouldn't plant cardinal flower until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Monticello 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cardinal flower may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Monticello. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Monticello is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Monticello last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cardinal flower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Monticello

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Monticello

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