The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 figure out when it's a good idea to plant cardinal flower by referring to the USDA zone info for Alpena.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

Since cardinal flower are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Alpena 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 grow to maturity. 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

In Alpena the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Alpena is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Alpena you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cardinal flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alpena

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 Alpena

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