When to Plant Cardinal Flower in Vandalia, MO

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.

The first opportunity to plant cardinal flower in Vandalia can be figured out by referring to 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 are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant cardinal flower
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant cardinal flower
Probably not a good time to plant cardinal flower

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Vandalia 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Vandalia. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Vandalia is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Vandalia you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your cardinal flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Vandalia

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 Vandalia

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