One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant cardinal flower in Emerson can be determined 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Since cardinal flower require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Emerson 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Emerson. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Emerson may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Emerson it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Emerson

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 Emerson

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