One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 USDA zone info for Central City can be read to determine 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 you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Central City 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Central City. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Central City is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Central City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Central City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Central City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Central City.