One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant carnation by using the USDA zone info for Midland.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Carnation do well in cold which means that you can get them planted much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Midland 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. If you wait any later than that and your carnation may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Midland. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Midland and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Midland you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Midland

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 Midland

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