One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Blackwell you can figure out when to plant cardinal flower 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 when the weather gets warmer.

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

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Blackwell 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. 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 the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Blackwell. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Blackwell is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Blackwell you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cardinal flower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Blackwell

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 Blackwell

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