One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The first chance to plant carnation in Decorah should be determined 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.

Carnation do well in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant carnation and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your carnation may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Decorah the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Decorah is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Decorah you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your carnation if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Decorah

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Decorah

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