One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A common way of making a decision about when to plant carnation is to refer to the USDA zone info for Tolleson.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Carnation are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Tolleson is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant carnation and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your carnation may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Tolleson. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Tolleson is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Tolleson it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your carnation if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tolleson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Tolleson

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