One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In North Liberty you can determine when to plant carnation 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 tend to make it in pretty solid 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 North Liberty 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in North Liberty. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for North Liberty is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in North Liberty it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your carnation in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for North Liberty

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 North Liberty

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Liberty.