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

One way of estimating when you can plant carnation is to look at the USDA zone info for Saranac Lake.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Since carnation do well in cold you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Saranac Lake is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant carnation and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your carnation may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Saranac Lake. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Saranac Lake is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Saranac Lake you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Saranac Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Saranac Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Saranac Lake.