Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Macon should be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea to plant dianthus.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

Since dianthus do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Macon 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dianthus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your dianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Macon the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Macon is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Macon you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your dianthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Macon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Macon

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