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

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Jacksonville should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Since marigold require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Jacksonville is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant marigold and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your marigold may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your marigold indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Jacksonville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Jacksonville is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Jacksonville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your marigold in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Jacksonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Jacksonville

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