When to Plant Tagetes in Palo Alto, CA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when you can plant tagetes in Palo Alto by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Tagetes

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

You really shouldn't plant tagetes until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant tagetes in Palo Alto 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 tagetes and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your tagetes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tagetes indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Palo Alto. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Palo Alto and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Palo Alto there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to cover your tagetes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palo Alto

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 Palo Alto

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palo Alto.