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 making a decision about when it's the best time to plant tagetes is to look at the USDA zone info for Algona.

Planting Calendar for Tagetes

Frost tolerance for tagetes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since tagetes require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tagetes in Algona 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 tagetes and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tagetes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your tagetes indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Algona. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Algona is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Algona it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your tagetes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Algona

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Algona

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