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

It's possible to estimate when you can plant carnation by looking at the USDA zone info for Buffalo.

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 a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Buffalo 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 carnation and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your carnation may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your carnation indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Buffalo. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Buffalo is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Buffalo there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your carnation if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Buffalo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Buffalo

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