Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when you can plant carnation by looking at the USDA zone info for Ellsworth.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

You can plant carnation earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Ellsworth 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Ellsworth the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ellsworth and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ellsworth last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ellsworth

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 Ellsworth

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