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.

You should be able to determine when to plant dianthus by using the USDA zone info for Gainesville.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

Dianthus do well in mild cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Gainesville 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dianthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Gainesville. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gainesville may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Gainesville last frost occurs after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your dianthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gainesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gainesville

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