One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

You should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant cardinal flower by looking at the USDA zone info for Mount Washington.

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 really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Mount Washington 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. Starting your cardinal flower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Mount Washington. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mount Washington is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mount Washington last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Washington

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 Mount Washington

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Washington.