One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

You can estimate when to plant carnation in San Francisco by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Carnation are very cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in San Francisco 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your carnation may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

In San Francisco the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for San Francisco and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in San Francisco there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to protect your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Francisco

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 Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°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 San Francisco

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Francisco.