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.

The USDA zone info for Des Plaines should be reffered to in order to determine when to plant carnation.

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 means that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Des Plaines 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 the last frost is on April 15 in Des Plaines. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Des Plaines may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Des Plaines you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your carnation in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Des Plaines

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 Des Plaines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Des Plaines.