One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 USDA zone info for Belton can be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time 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.

Carnation do well in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Belton 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. 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

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Belton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Belton there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your carnation if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Belton

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 Belton

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