One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A way of figuring out when it's possible to plant carnation is to refer to the USDA zone info for Dunkirk.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Carnation tend to make it in cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Dunkirk 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your carnation may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your carnation indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Dunkirk the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dunkirk and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Dunkirk you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your carnation in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dunkirk

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 Dunkirk

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