When to Plant Cardinal Flower in Geneseo, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant cardinal flower in Geneseo should be estimated 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.

Since cardinal flower require warm weather you have to wait until 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 Geneseo 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 fully mature. If you are starting your cardinal flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Geneseo. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Geneseo is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Geneseo last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Geneseo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Geneseo

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