One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Hopatcong you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant carnation.

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 one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Hopatcong 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hopatcong. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Hopatcong is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Hopatcong it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your carnation in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hopatcong

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Hopatcong

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