One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant carnation is to use the USDA zone info for Van Buren.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Carnation do well in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Van Buren 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your carnation may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your carnation indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Van Buren. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Van Buren may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Van Buren you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your carnation if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Van Buren

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Van Buren

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Van Buren.