One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Fort Myers it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant marigold.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

Frost tolerance for marigold:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since marigold require warm weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Fort Myers 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. If you wait any later than that and your marigold may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on January 31 in Fort Myers. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Myers is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Myers you get a frost after January 31 so make sure that you are ready to cover your marigold in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Myers

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 Fort Myers

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Myers.