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 USDA zone info for Florence should be used to determine when to plant cardinal flower.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

Since cardinal flower do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Florence 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. 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 few weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Florence. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Florence is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Florence you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Florence

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Florence

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