When to Plant Cardinal Flower in Lewiston, ME

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant cardinal flower in Lewiston can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

Frost tolerance for cardinal flower: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Since cardinal flower do not do well in cold weather you need 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 Lewiston 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Lewiston. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Lewiston is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lewiston there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cardinal flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lewiston

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 Lewiston

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