One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

A way of getting a good idea when you can plant dianthus is to use the USDA zone info for Rockdale.

Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

Since dianthus are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Rockdale 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. Any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your dianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Rockdale. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rockdale and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rockdale you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your dianthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rockdale

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 Rockdale

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