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.

You will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant marigold by referring to the USDA zone info for Sarasota.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

Marigold require warm weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Sarasota 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. Any later than that and your marigold may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in Sarasota. 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 Sarasota and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Sarasota you get a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your marigold if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sarasota

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 Sarasota

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