One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Mount Olive you can determine when to plant cardinal flower 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 all chance of frost has passed.

Since cardinal flower do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Mount Olive 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Mount Olive. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Olive is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mount Olive there is a last frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Olive

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 Mount Olive

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Olive.