Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant cardinal flower is to check out the USDA zone info for Audubon.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

You can not plant cardinal flower until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Audubon 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 fully mature. 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

In Audubon the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Audubon is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Audubon last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Audubon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Audubon

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