Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Jefferson you can figure out when it's possible to plant carnation by using 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.

You can plant carnation a lot earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Jefferson is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant carnation and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and 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

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Jefferson. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Jefferson is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Jefferson you get a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your carnation in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jefferson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Jefferson

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