Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 making a decision about when to plant cardinal flower is to look at the USDA zone info for Northport.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

Since cardinal flower are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Northport 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Northport. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Northport and it is different every year. Half of the time in Northport there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Northport

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 Northport

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