One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant dianthus is to look at the USDA zone info for Lamar.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

Dianthus do well in some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Lamar 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 dianthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your dianthus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Lamar. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lamar is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lamar there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your dianthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lamar

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Lamar

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