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.

In Roanoke you can determine when it's the best time to plant marigold by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Since marigold are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Roanoke 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your marigold may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your marigold indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Roanoke. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Roanoke is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Roanoke you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your marigold if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Roanoke

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 Roanoke

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