One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Ventura you should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant marigold.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

Frost tolerance for marigold:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since marigold do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Ventura 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 marigold and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your marigold may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Ventura the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ventura is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ventura last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your marigold in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ventura

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Ventura

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