The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when you can plant cardinal flower in South El Monte by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

It's not a good idea to plant cardinal flower until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in South El Monte 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

In South El Monte the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for South El Monte is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in South El Monte there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South El Monte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in South El Monte

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