Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Arlington should be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea to plant carnation.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

Frost tolerance for carnation:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since carnation are very cold tolerant you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Arlington 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 carnation and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your carnation may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your carnation indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Arlington. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Arlington is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Arlington there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your carnation in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Arlington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Arlington

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