One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 Paterson should be determined by looking at 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.

You really shouldn't plant cardinal flower until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Paterson 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Paterson. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Paterson may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Paterson you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Paterson

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 Paterson

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