Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Houghton you can figure out when it's the best time to plant cardinal flower by reviewing 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.

Since cardinal flower require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Houghton 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 has passed is on April 15 in Houghton. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Houghton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Houghton you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Houghton

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 Houghton

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