When to Plant Cardinal Flower in La Palma, CA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for La Palma it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant cardinal flower.


Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

Cardinal Flower are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant cardinal flower
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant cardinal flower
Probably not a good time to plant cardinal flower

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in La Palma 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. Any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cardinal flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in La Palma. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for La Palma and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in La Palma there is a last frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Palma

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 Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°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 La Palma

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Palma.