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

In Geneva you can determine when it's the best time to plant calendula by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calendula

Frost tolerance for calendula:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Calendula do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant calendula in Geneva is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant calendula and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your calendula may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your calendula indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Geneva the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Geneva may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Geneva it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your calendula if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

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 Geneva

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