One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when to plant cardinal flower by looking at the USDA zone info for Bethlehem.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

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

Since cardinal flower are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Bethlehem 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 little bit earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Bethlehem. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Bethlehem is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Bethlehem it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bethlehem

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 Bethlehem

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