One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 estimating when it's a good idea to plant marigold is to use the USDA zone info for Patterson.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

You should not plant marigold until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Patterson 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Patterson and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Patterson you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your marigold if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Patterson

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 Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 Patterson

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