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.

The USDA zone info for Encinitas should be reviewed to figure out when it's a good idea to plant dianthus.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

Frost tolerance for dianthus:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Dianthus tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Encinitas 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 dianthus and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your dianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Encinitas. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Encinitas is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Encinitas there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to protect your dianthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Encinitas

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Encinitas

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