When to Plant Carnation in Rochester, NH

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

The first chance to plant carnation in Rochester can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Carnation

Frost tolerance for carnation: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since carnation are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant carnation
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant carnation
Probably not a good time to plant carnation

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Rochester 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 carnation and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your carnation may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your carnation indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rochester. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rochester is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rochester last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

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 Rochester

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