One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Hitchcock you can estimate when it's possible to plant cardinal flower by referring to 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.

Cardinal Flower do not do well in cold weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Hitchcock 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 Hitchcock the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Hitchcock is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Hitchcock there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your cardinal flower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hitchcock

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 Hitchcock

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