One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

You can estimate when it's possible to plant carnation in Bettendorf 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 do well in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Bettendorf is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Bettendorf it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your carnation if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bettendorf

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Bettendorf

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