One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant cardinal flower is to examine the USDA zone info for Hornell.

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.

It's a bad idea to plant cardinal flower until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Hornell 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

In Hornell the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hornell is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Hornell you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cardinal flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hornell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hornell

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