The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Slinger you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant carnation by looking at 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 can survive in cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carnation in Slinger 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 April 15 in Slinger. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Slinger is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Slinger there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your carnation if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Slinger

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 Slinger

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