One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Auburn can be used to determine 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 should not plant cardinal flower until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Auburn is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. Any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Auburn. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Auburn may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Auburn there is a last frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your cardinal flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Auburn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Auburn

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