One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Mountain Home you should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to 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.

Since cardinal flower are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Mountain Home 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. Any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cardinal flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Mountain Home. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mountain Home is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Mountain Home last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mountain Home

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 Mountain Home

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mountain Home.