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.

The USDA zone info for Brookings should be used to estimate when you can plant cardinal flower.

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 really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Brookings is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. Any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Brookings. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Brookings is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Brookings last frost occurs after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Brookings

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Brookings

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