One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant cardinal flower is to look at the USDA zone info for Moorhead.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

Cardinal Flower do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Moorhead 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 fully mature. Starting your cardinal flower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Moorhead. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Moorhead is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Moorhead you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your cardinal flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Moorhead

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Moorhead

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