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 first opportunity to plant dianthus in Long Beach should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

Since dianthus are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Long Beach 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your dianthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Long Beach. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Long Beach and it is different every year. Half of the time in Long Beach you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your dianthus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Long Beach

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Long Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Long Beach.