One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Coal City you will be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant marigold.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

You really shouldn't plant marigold until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Coal City 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 marigold and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your marigold may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Coal City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Coal City is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Coal City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your marigold if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Coal City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Coal City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Coal City.