One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant carnation is to check out the USDA zone info for York.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Since carnation do well in cold you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in York 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. 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In York the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for York is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in York it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for York

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in York

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