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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant carnation is to consult the USDA zone info for Marietta.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Carnation are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Marietta 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. If you wait any later than that and your carnation may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your carnation indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Marietta the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marietta and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Marietta you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your carnation if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marietta

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 Marietta

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