One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 first opportunity to plant carnation in San Diego should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Carnation do ok in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in San Diego is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant carnation and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your carnation may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in San Diego. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for San Diego may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in San Diego it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for San Diego

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in San Diego

You may be interested in your other planting guides for San Diego.