When to Plant Cardinal Flower in Zone 10b

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 earliest that you can plant cardinal flower in Zone 10b can be estimated by looking at 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 has passed.

Cardinal Flower do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed 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 Zone 10b is February. However, you really should wait until March 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. Any later than that and your cardinal flower may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your cardinal flower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 10b the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 10b is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 10b you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cardinal flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 10b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low35°F
Highest Expected Low40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 10b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 10b.