One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

It's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant cardinal flower by looking at the USDA zone info for La Crosse.

Planting Calendar for Cardinal Flower

Frost tolerance for cardinal flower:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since cardinal flower require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in La Crosse is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in La Crosse. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for La Crosse is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in La Crosse there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your cardinal flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Crosse

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in La Crosse

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Crosse.