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 USDA zone info for Portage can be looked at to determine when it's possible to plant cardinal flower.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

Cardinal Flower require warm weather which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Portage 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Portage. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portage and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Portage you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Portage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Portage

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