When to Plant Carnation in Columbia, PA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant carnation in Columbia can be estimated by using 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.

You can plant carnation a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant carnation
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant carnation
Probably not a good time to plant carnation

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Columbia 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 little bit earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Columbia. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

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 Columbia and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

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 Low0°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 Columbia

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