One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Baxter you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant dianthus by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

Frost tolerance for dianthus:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since dianthus are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Baxter is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dianthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dianthus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dianthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Baxter the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Baxter is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Baxter it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your dianthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Baxter

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Baxter

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