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

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant carnation is to check out the USDA zone info for Howell.

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 quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Howell 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 really do well. If you are starting your carnation indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Howell is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Howell there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Howell

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 Howell

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