One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Andover you can estimate when it's the best time to plant cardinal flower by using 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 must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Andover is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your cardinal flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Andover. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Andover is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Andover you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Andover

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Andover

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