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

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant cardinal flower is to use the USDA zone info for Sherwood.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

Since cardinal flower require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Sherwood 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 grow to maturity. Starting your cardinal flower indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Sherwood. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sherwood is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sherwood last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sherwood

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Sherwood

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