The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Forest can be reffered to in order to determine when 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 has passed.

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 Forest 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. 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 March 15 in Forest. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Forest is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Forest there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Forest

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