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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Elkhart it's possible 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.

Marigold require warm weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant marigold in Elkhart 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your marigold indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Elkhart the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elkhart is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Elkhart you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your marigold in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elkhart

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Elkhart

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