When to Plant Cardinal Flower in Fairfield, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant cardinal flower in Fairfield can be figured out by referring to 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 a bad idea to plant cardinal flower until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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 Fairfield is April. However, you really should wait until May 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 August. 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fairfield. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Fairfield is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fairfield you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairfield

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