One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Laurel can be used to estimate when it's a good idea to 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 are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Laurel 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. If you wait any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your cardinal flower indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Laurel. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Laurel may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Laurel there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Laurel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Laurel

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