When to Plant Carnation in West Springfield, MA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In West Springfield you can determine when it's a good idea 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.

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 other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant carnation
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant carnation
Probably not a good time to plant carnation

The earliest that you can plant carnation in West Springfield 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in West Springfield. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Springfield may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in West Springfield last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your carnation if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Springfield

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 West Springfield

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Springfield.