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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Sweetwater it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant carnation.

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 earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Sweetwater. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Sweetwater is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Sweetwater it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your carnation in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sweetwater

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Sweetwater

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