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.

You should be able to figure out when to plant carnation by reviewing the USDA zone info for Cottage Grove.

Planting Calendar for Carnation

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

Carnation tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Cottage Grove 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your carnation may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your carnation indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cottage Grove. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cottage Grove is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cottage Grove there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your carnation if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cottage Grove

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Cottage Grove

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cottage Grove.