Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Marshall should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's a good idea to plant dianthus.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

Frost tolerance for dianthus:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Dianthus do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Marshall 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 dianthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your dianthus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Marshall. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marshall and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Marshall you get a frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your dianthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marshall

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 Marshall

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