One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant dianthus is to look at the USDA zone info for Molalla.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

You can plant dianthus just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Molalla 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 fully mature. If you are starting your dianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Molalla. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Molalla is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Molalla it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your dianthus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Molalla

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 Molalla

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