One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Cincinnati you will be able to determine when you can plant cardinal flower.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

Frost tolerance for cardinal flower:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant cardinal flower until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Cincinnati 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. If you are starting your cardinal flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Cincinnati. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cincinnati and it is different every year. Half of the time in Cincinnati you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cincinnati

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Cincinnati

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