Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Fort Lauderdale you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant cardinal flower by reviewing 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.

Since cardinal flower require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Fort Lauderdale 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. 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

In Fort Lauderdale the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Lauderdale and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Lauderdale it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your cardinal flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Lauderdale

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 Fort Lauderdale

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Lauderdale.