One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Sturgis can be reffered to in order 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 all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant cardinal flower until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Sturgis 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

In Sturgis the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Sturgis is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sturgis last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sturgis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Sturgis

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