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.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant carnation is to check out the USDA zone info for Kirkland.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Since carnation are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Kirkland 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 grow to maturity. 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 March 15 in Kirkland. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Kirkland is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Kirkland it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to protect your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Kirkland

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 Kirkland

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