When to Plant Cardinal Flower in Medical Lake, WA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Medical Lake you can estimate when you can 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 are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant cardinal flower
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant cardinal flower
Probably not a good time to plant cardinal flower

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Medical Lake 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. Any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cardinal flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Medical Lake the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Medical Lake and it is different every year. Half of the time in Medical Lake you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your cardinal flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Medical Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Medical Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Medical Lake.