When to Plant Cardinal Flower in Silvis, IL

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

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Silvis you will be able to estimate when you can 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 do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost 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 Silvis 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. Any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your cardinal flower indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Silvis. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Silvis is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Silvis it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your cardinal flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Silvis

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 Silvis

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