One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Whitefish can be looked at to figure out 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.

You can plant dianthus just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Whitefish 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. Any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dianthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Whitefish. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Whitefish is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Whitefish there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your dianthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Whitefish

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Whitefish

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