The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Carmel you can determine when it's a good idea to plant canna by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Canna

Frost tolerance for canna:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You can not plant canna until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The last month that you can plant canna and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your canna may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your canna indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Carmel the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Carmel is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Carmel you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your canna if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carmel

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 Carmel

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