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.

The best time to plant carnation in Cambridge can be determined by using 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 a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Cambridge 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. If you are starting your carnation indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Cambridge. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cambridge is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Cambridge last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your carnation in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cambridge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Cambridge

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