The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Forest Lake you can determine when it's a good idea to plant dianthus by looking at 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.

Dianthus are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Forest Lake 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. If you wait any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dianthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Forest Lake. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Forest Lake may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Forest Lake it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your dianthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Forest Lake

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 Forest Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Forest Lake.