When to Plant Dianthus in Zone 4b

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 to plant dianthus is to consult the USDA zone info for Zone 4b.


Planting Calendar for Dianthus

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

You can plant dianthus a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant dianthus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant dianthus
Probably not a good time to plant dianthus

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Zone 4b is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant dianthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your dianthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your dianthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Zone 4b. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 4b is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 4b you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your dianthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 4b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Zone 4b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 4b.