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.

One way of making a decision about when to plant cardinal flower is to examine the USDA zone info for Sidney.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

Since cardinal flower do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Sidney 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cardinal flower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cardinal flower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Sidney the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sidney is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Sidney you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sidney

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 Sidney

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