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.

The USDA zone info for Loves Park should be looked at to estimate when it's the best time to plant tagetes.

Planting Calendar for Tagetes

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

Since tagetes do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tagetes in Loves Park 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tagetes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tagetes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Loves Park. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Loves Park may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Loves Park there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your tagetes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Loves Park

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 Loves Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Loves Park.