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

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant carnation is to use the USDA zone info for Forest Park.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

Frost tolerance for carnation:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since carnation are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Forest Park 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. Any later than that and your carnation may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your carnation indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Forest Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Forest Park may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Forest Park it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Forest Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Forest Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Forest Park.