When to Plant Marigold in Coachella, CA

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.

A common way of figuring out when it's possible to plant marigold is to use the USDA zone info for Coachella.


Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Marigold require warm weather which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Coachella 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 marigold and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your marigold may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your marigold indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Coachella. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Coachella is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Coachella there is a last frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your marigold in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Coachella

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)December 15
Lowest Expected Low25°F
Highest Expected Low30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Coachella

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