One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 figuring out when it's possible to plant carnation is to examine the USDA zone info for Sanford.

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 start planting them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Sanford 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 grow to maturity. Starting your carnation indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Sanford the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sanford and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Sanford there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sanford

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 Sanford

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