One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Chehalis it's a good idea to determine when it's possible 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 has passed.

You can not plant cardinal flower until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Chehalis 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Chehalis. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Chehalis is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Chehalis last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cardinal flower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chehalis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Chehalis

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