One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Signal Hill it's a good idea to estimate 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 can survive in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Signal Hill 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dianthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your dianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Signal Hill. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Signal Hill is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Signal Hill you get a frost after January 31 so always be ready to protect your dianthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Signal Hill

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 Signal Hill

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Signal Hill.