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

The first opportunity to plant marigold in Columbia can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Marigold

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant marigold until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Columbia 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. If you wait any later than that and your marigold may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Columbia. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Columbia may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your marigold in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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