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 Monticello can be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time to plant cardinal flower.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

Frost tolerance for cardinal flower:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

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

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Monticello 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. 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 Monticello. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Monticello is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Monticello there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your cardinal flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Monticello

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 Monticello

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