One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for El Segundo you will be able to figure out when it's the best time 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.

Since cardinal flower are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in El Segundo is February. However, you really should wait until March 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cardinal flower may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on January 31 in El Segundo. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for El Segundo and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in El Segundo you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for El Segundo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in El Segundo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Segundo.