The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant cardinal flower in Poughkeepsie can be determined by reviewing 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.

Cardinal Flower are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Poughkeepsie. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Poughkeepsie may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Poughkeepsie last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cardinal flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Poughkeepsie

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Poughkeepsie

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