Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 Montebello can be reffered to in order to estimate 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 all chance of frost has passed.

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

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Montebello 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 really do well. If you are starting your cardinal flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on January 31 in Montebello. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Montebello is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Montebello there is a last frost after January 31 so just be sure to be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Montebello

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 Montebello

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