One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Lexington can be figured out by looking at 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 quite a bit earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Lexington 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 really do well. Starting your carnation indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lexington the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lexington and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lexington 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 Lexington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Lexington

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