One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You can estimate when you can plant carnation in Independence by referring to the USDA zone info.

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 pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Independence 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Independence. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Independence and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Independence you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so always be ready to protect your carnation in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Independence

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