Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate 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 earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Festus can be determined by checking out 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.

It's probably not a good idea to plant cardinal flower until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Festus 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. Any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to really do well. 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 Festus the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Festus may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Festus you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Festus

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Festus

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